Mythical Pretty Cure!
by Nexus Schwarz
Summary: [Fanseries] From a lost book of mythical beasts called, "Kingdom of Legends", monsters emerge and plot to take over the world in order to be remembered again. However, a Pegasus fairy named Zephyr wishes to stop this tyranny and searches Earth to find warriors that can realize their dreams with the powers of the legendary knights, the Pretty Cure!
1. Fallen Stars of Dreams

"Your Majesty! Stop this madness!" A chorus of five voices shouted as they burst into a large throne room toward their ruler's seat in the far back of the foreboding room. It was completely absent of the warmth and charisma befitting of such a place, which made it seem even larger than it already was.

However, instead of humans, it turned out to be four monsters. One was a Cerberus wearing three open-faced helmets that was small compared to the room they were all in. Another was a humanoid monster that resembled a bird, though only his golden wings and a large, beak-like nose were visible under his armor with a longsword on his side. Lastly, there was a large green rabbit with leg armor. They all bore a unique crest on their armor pieces: a fireball for Cerberus, a wing for Garuda, and a crescent moon for Jade Rabbit. Hidden behind a pillar, the fourth monster turned out to be a small Pegasus, as he waited in anticipation for something.

"How dare you defy your king?!" Another voice yelled, this one belonging to a clanking suit of armor. Although the rest of his body was silver and his cloak white, his red face bore an overly exaggerated angry expression on a faceplate resembling a thespian mask.

Then, his face turned toward a blue, smiling mask as he said, "He wishes to bring us back to prosperity! I find that invading the Kingdom of Dreams is out best bet for just that!"

Finally, his face turned to a yellow, sad mask as he began to shiver. "Besides, the king is scary when he's angry..."

"Out of our way, Trifact! You know that this is wrong, so stop him!" Garuda shouted and drew his sword as the others got ready to fight as well.

The humanoid king had not said a word throughout this entire exchange as he rested his head in his lion-like paw, seemingly bored.

However, it was then that the three were swarmed by a mass of rats formed from the deep shadows of the throne room. They struggled to escape; Cerberus blasted fire, Garuda slashed away, and Jade Rabbit used gravity surges to push them away. Even then, the combined attacks of the would-be rebels were not enough and they were overwhelmed, screaming after being completely covered in the constructs.

A young adult woman's loud, haughty laughter began to echo throughout the throne room. The shadows had returned to their original places, revealing that the three were covered in various scratches and injuries while they struggled to get back up. When she revealed herself from her hiding spot, the white-robed wizard playfully wagged her black cat tail and a smile was across her whiskered face.

"Now why did you think you could resist Trifact and I, much less our king, oh fallen knights...?" The catgirl taunted as she approached them but was interrupted when the Pegasus flew into her face. He kicked and punched at her face with his hooves as he flailed about.

"You leave the Legendary Three Musketeers alone, zeph!" His childlike voice shouted at her, though she threw him off soon enough.

She hissed at him as her fur rose up out of irritation with the hoof-shaped marks all over her face. "How far you've fallen as well, prince! Or should I just call you "Zephyr," since you're not the prince anymore?!"

"Even so, zeph! I'll do whatever I can to stop you from fighting the humans, Sneak!" Zephyr said as he flew back to the wizard's eye level.

"Zephyr..." A weakened cry from Cerberus' three heads called out and interrupted their argument as the fairy flew toward them.

"Run while you have the chance, Your Majesty..." Jade Rabbit said with an equal lack of strength.

"You are... the only one who can find the ones who can stop this, my prince." Garuda groaned. Zephyr was surprised, but Sneak narrowed her eyes in disbelief as she scoffed.

"You talk as if the Pretty Cures exist in the Kingdom of Dreams. Just as they have tried to deny our existence and only called us legends..." She scoffed dismissively and crossed her arms.

It was then that the Legendary Three Musketeers' bodies began to fade away as light escaped from their bodies, shocking Zephyr. However, instead of crying right there, he heeded their requests and flew away from the throne room.

Eventually, he made it to a room with an elaborate wishing well. He then clacked his hooves together as if to pray. "Oh wishing well, bring me to the world of the Pretty Cure, the Kingdom of Dreams!" He shouted, and he was soon consumed in a golden light and vanished without a trace.

"How could you let him escape, Your Majesty?! We could've ended the rebellion then and there!" The red Trifact shouted but quickly turned to the blue face. "We're unbeatable now that the Legendary Three Musketeers are dead!" Finally, the yellow face popped up. "But what if he does manage to find the Pretty Cures, though...?"

It was then that the faces began to argue and rotated constantly through their shouting.

"Enough!" Finally their king spoke, in a loud, booming voice that made the entire chamber shake and his two servants scramble to kneel in front of him.

"Let him chase an old legend, I say. Even if he does find those warriors, they won't stand a chance against what we have in store for the humans..." The king said darkly. He held up an hourglass with no sand in it, his servants surprised. Sneak grinned evilly at the device when she realized what it was, while Trifact's blue face was active with its cheery and soulless smile.

As the morning sun rose the next day, a tall girl was jogging in a red and gold-colored sweatshirt with the hood up. The numbers "07" and the last name of "Ashford" were printed on the back, combined with matching sweatpants. She had a look of concentration within her green eyes, and she had beads of sweat dripping through her short, maroon hair, down her face and past her freckles, breathing in a quick yet rhythmic pattern during her run.

She managed to pass by the opening door of a shorter-and certainly more exhausted-darker-skinned girl. Her last-minute French braid barely controlled the wild, shoulder-length bleached-blonde tuft on her head that she considered hair. She was moving in the same direction as the runner, albeit with less urgency and spirit. She was carrying a yellow backpack while lightly yet unintentionally swinging around a toolbox full of various art supplies on a shoulder strap, holding its handle in her right hand during her trudging journey.

On the other side of the city was a purple and black limo with a stylized, M-shaped logo and the words "Menace Corporation" underneath it in the middle of morning rush hour. Inside the limo were two girls in black-themed uniforms with black polo sweaters, green undershirts poking underneath the grey bowties, and black/green plaid-striped skirts.

One girl had some of her ash brown hair peeking out of her ponytail in layered bangs. She sat uneasily in her leather seat, her sharp grey eyes boring holes into the floor. Her friend, meanwhile, had auburn hair in a bun. She was relaxed yet upright in her wheelchair, occasionally tapping her right hand's fingers on her left hand.

She glanced in her friend's direction with her bespectacled hazel eyes in an awkward silence periodically until she decided to break it with a chuckle. "You can talk about what's making you so nervous if it'll help..." She teased and received a slight scowl from the other girl.

She relaxed her expression as she moved herself to face her friend, and then almost covered her face with her right hand. "It won't Amy, trust me. Summerland's one of the best academies in the state-the country, even. I just...don't see how this could be real." She responded weakly.

Amy shook her head and touched her friend's hand with hers and a smirk on her face. "You deserve to be there. You're one of the smartest people I know, Skye. If anything, they deserve you."

Skye playfully smacked Amy's shoulder in the middle of her laughter while her friend joined in. "Shut up! Don't get me too relaxed, now!"

Suddenly, three colored streaks of light shimmered through the sky which caught the attention of the red-headed athlete, the exhausted blonde, and the nervous brunette.

"What was that?!" Ashford quietly shouted as she pulled down her hood to yank her headphones off her ears. She barreled toward a light nearly blended with the red-tinted shadows of the dawn.

As she became more alert, the blonde focused her vision on an intense wayward sunbeam. She increased her walking speed to the end of it nearby the school.

"Stop the car!" Skye yelled and scrambled to unbuckle her seatbelt and get out of the car. She bolted to follow the unnaturally-occurring green aurora that streaked past the clouds.

"Where are you going?!" Amy tried to stop her but couldn't. She sighed disappointedly before she told the driver to slowly follow behind her.

They each managed to find a small, round gem with an ethereal shine and smooth cut, resembling marbles.

The one Ashford found was a spinel, and she picked it up to examine it quizzically. "What the heck is this rock doing over here?" She was about to set it back down, but then looked at it again with a weakened smirk. "Well... It is too nice-looking to just throw away, so I'll keep it I guess."

She shrugged and put it in her backpack. She continued her jog to the school's gymnasium and when she walked inside, she wiped the sweat off her face with her towel, put her headphones away in her backpack, and walked into the girls' locker room.

"Incredible! I've never seen a piece of amber round and bright like this...! If only I could work on a piece right now with it!" The blonde gushed to herself, finally waking up as she quickly but carefully stuffed it into her toolbox. She trotted happily to the school, satisfied with her small victory.

Skye kneeled and picked up the jade-like crystal she found. She raised an eyebrow as she examined it from all angles when she stood up. _Was this the thing that caused the aurora? It looks too small to have done that, but-_

The limo's loud horn broke the silence of the morning air and the spell that the gem had casted over Skye's attention span which made her look in the noise's direction. She made a break for the car and got back inside to look at the item again. Amy was briefly curious but smiled instead of asking questions.

A good portion of the Avalon High School students filtered out into the parking lot after the final bell. The blonde, who had made herself more presentable by this point, started to walk home. She had pulled out her enigmatic treasure and admired it with a goofy grin, anticipating the new project after dinner.

...Or perhaps dinner was excited for her as suddenly, a loudly familiar growling noise stopped her pace. She looked at her own stomach and poked at it confusedly. Concluding that it wasn't the source of the growling, she started to actively look.

However, what she found was Zephyr who was lying on the ground unconscious. She kneeled in her curiosity, pocketed her crystal, and lightly poked at him. He only groaned in response. Surprised at his reaction, she squeaked quietly and worriedly held him in her arms.

She got home, set the fairy on her bed, the art supplies nearby on the floor, and the crystal into a pocket of the blue jeans she changed into from her uniform as well as a green t-shirt. When she made it to her kitchen, she then added a white apron over them to start her dish.

She prepped her ingredients in a stand mixer when an alarm started to go off in her phone. She sighed in relief as if she barely made it in time for something. There were some pots already on the stove that had a mild flame going underneath them to keep them warm but not overly cook the contents.

The sun began to set by the time that she had finished her dish and gently placed it into the oven as a timer was already down to 15 minutes.

 _Wonder what the little guy would like..._ Jasmine debated after she took off her apron and she soon looked through her cabinets and fridge while her treat was baking. She then snorted in amusement at the notion. _Wait, what_ _is_ _it, anyway? I don't want it to get sick on my watch, after all._

The door opened and three smaller black-haired siblings of Jasmine's ran past her in different sports uniforms up the stairs. Her parents were still in the doorway when she found them. Her mother pulled out a handkerchief and got the flour off of Jasmine's face which got a laugh out of them.

"My apple pie will be ready soon, mother, father." Jasmine chuckled.

"That's good to hear. Don't work yourself too hard now, dear." Her mother advised sternly before putting the handkerchief back in her pocket.

"Of course, mother. Let me go get changed, I'm so excited for dinner." Jasmine replied uneasily before she went upstairs.

Just as she got to her room, she became baffled when the fairy disappeared from his spot on her bed. She feverishly looked for him until she heard her family making a fuss about something and carefully ran down the stairs to see what they were freaking out about.

It turned out that someone had pulled the apple pie out to let it cool down on the kitchen table...but the children had their attention on other things.

"It's so cute~!" Her gymnast little sister shouted while she squeezed Zephyr tightly, the breath knocked out of him. Jasmine quietly panicked as she held one hand over her mouth.

"Big sis, I saw it! I saw it trying to fly to your apple pie!" The brother wearing a soccer uniform declared.

"Where did you find it, big sis?! Can we keep it-mom, dad?!" The baseball playing brother asked with energetic enthusiasm.

"I never thought creatures like this would exist, much less fly into our house..." Their father adjusted his glasses with intense thought and Jasmine flinched.

"Jasmine... Did you pick it up?" Their mother asked calmly, gripping her elbows out of concern for the unknown creature.

With a heavy sigh, Jasmine nodded. "Yes, mother... It sounded like it was hungry, so I wanted to help."

"If we do keep this...whatever it is. Can I trust that you'll be sure to watch your siblings take care of it, Jasmine?" Her father asked with stern curiosity.

Zephyr managed to wiggle out of the younger sister's grip at last and bowed to the parents. "I'll make sure to not be a bother, I promise, zeph!"

 _What in the_ _world_ _did I just manage to pick up on a whim...?_ Jasmine distressed alone as everyone reacted in surprise differently.

"You can even talk, too! Well, that solves everything, now doesn't it?" Her mother said softly. "Welcome to the Swallows household, in that case."

"My name's Zephyr, zeph! I'm a Pegasus and it's a pleasure to meet everyone!" He shouted cheerfully. He floated over to the apple pie, drooling a little after he smelled it. "...Can I have some, zeph?"

Jasmine hung her head in defeat, trudged over to the utensils drawer, and grabbed a pie cutter. "Yes, yes, Zephyr... Hold on a second."

She set the piece down in front of herself and he started eating it as she and everyone watched him.

Zephyr rubbed his stomach in satisfaction, but then realized something. "Oh! I almost forgot, zeph! I need to find the Luminary Gems!"

He then flew off, and Jasmine got up to follow him. "Get back here, Zephyr! It's dangerous to go by yourself!" By the time she had gotten to the door, she stopped and turned back to her family. She breathed in to calm herself as she said with a confident smirk, "We'll be back in time for dinner, I promise."

She grabbed her bike from the garage and managed to catch up with him as if he knew where he was going.

Waiting outside of the Robotics Lab at Summerland Girls' Academy was particularly tense today for Skye. Not only was she waiting for Amy to finish her latest project, she was being harassed by four other freshmen.

One, a pale blonde girl, pressed her hand above Skye's head in an intimidating manner. Her body was just as uncomfortably close to the unwilling participant. "I've heard you think you're hot stuff, huh? You think you can jump around clubs and then leave at a moment's notice?"

Skye couldn't really respond as she avoided looking at the girl, her face bright red. _G-_ _God_ _, I can hear her heartbeat..._

"What are you even doing here, anyway? Your family doesn't even own a company, and yet here you are, leeching off Amy Menace of all people."

That snapped Skye back into awareness so she flicked the girl's nose with a slender finger. The girl backed off, offended, with the other girls ready to fight for her as they shouted various insults.

Just as Amy wheeled out of the room, she witnessed the girls' squawking as Skye maintained her stance. She was about to speak up when Skye beat her to the punch. "I'm here out of my own merits and if you wanted me to help you with your homework, you could just ask instead of trying to bully me into it."

"I wonder what the headmistress would think about the four of you cheating..." Amy said as she caught the bullies off guard, the leader scoffed obnoxiously. "You can't lie your way out of this one, Kathy, with a witness like me to back up my friend." She added with a smirk as she wagged her index finger in a teasing manner.

"C'mon, girls. Let's get out of here." Kathy declared as her troop followed behind her.

Skye had her hand to her chest and waited for her heartbeat to slow down as she exhaled a long sigh of relief. "Thanks for that... I was scared for a minute, there."

"Think nothing of it." Amy replied with a smile. "Now that we're done, I'll call for the car, so let's get going." She said as she moved ahead of Skye to the front entrance.

Among the many suits of armor lining the halls, Trifact was cleverly hiding among them as he watched the girls of the academy walk past him. His blue face was forward and patient with its unmoving smile as he waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

When Skye realized that Amy was out of sight, she ran forward to catch up with her. "H-Hey, don't get ahead of me!"

However, what she saw next immediately filled her body with fear. She wasn't sure what to be afraid of at first: the fact that Amy was being strangled as she tried to pull her captor's fingers off her neck...or that her captor was a large suit of armor around a creature with a yellow face. Its snickering resonated through its hollow shell of a body behind its hesitant expression.

"This one should be easy to exploit." It said coldly and used its free hand to somehow phase through Amy's chest and paused her breathing suddenly. He then pulled out an iridescent crystal and the life from her eyes as he callously tossed her aside in the same direction of her fallen wheelchair.

Skye finally found the courage to move when she rushed to aid her. "Amy! Amy...!" She yelled, tearing up slightly when she turned back to the monster. "What did you do to her?!"

The creature flinched but a red face clicked into place, confusing Skye briefly. "Now you've angered me, pitiful human!" He screamed and motioned his other hand to his belt. He pulled out a one of the hourglasses his king had shown him.

"Become Forgotton in the sands of time!" He then combined the strange objects together as they began to grow within a black light.

Skye shielded her eyes for a moment that was just enough time for the reaction to take place as another strange creature appeared. It had a visor that resembled the hourglass on its side as the distinguishing feature on its otherwise blank face, and a suit of armor for a body that oddly had jet engines on its legs. "Forgotton!" It shouted as red, soulless eyes stared right into Skye while its master had switched to his blue face to watch.

With heavy breath, Jasmine saw that they were in front of Summerland Girls' Academy and set her bike to the side. She felt quite underdressed, though her thoughts were interrupted when she saw the giant monster in front of her. "What is that thing, Zephyr?!"

Skye noticed that the two of them were there, irritated at them. "Get out of here! This is my problem to deal with!" She then charged at the Forgotton, kicking and punching at it though hurting herself more than the monster as she winced in pain. "This was made from my friend and I'll stop it no matter what!"

Just then, the marble that was in Skye's pocket began to glow a bright green as everyone was shocked. The shining object then changed into a crescent moon-shaped piece of jade as a white bracelet appeared on her left wrist with a hole in the same shape as the gem.

"You're a Pretty Cure, zeph! Put the Luminary Gem in your Luminary Brace and the words to transform should come to you!"

The would-be chosen one was baffled at the events unfolding in front of her, but seeing as the Forgotton was about to squish her with a fist, she had no choice but to believe as she followed through, words effortlessly escaping her mouth.

 **"Gem of the future, guide me through a mythical transformation!"** She shouted as she set the gem into the bracelet. She then turned it 90° away from herself as green light absorbed her body and everyone was shielding their eyes.

"This cannot be...!" All three of the voices from the monstrous knight shouted.

Skye felt the pain from her body begin to melt away as she felt herself becoming overwhelmed with power. She closed her eyes as a green-colored full moon passed through her hair, changing it to a jade green, waist-length ponytail covering her ears, and her clothes were replaced with a black short bodysuit as the shape passed through them. A frilly green skirt materialized on her waist, with the back gathered into a bunny tail-like fluff. A gold baton-like object was hanging off the left side of her belt, and white knee-length boots followed, with green lining and wedge heels. Green armbands appear with the Luminary Brace over the left one, and a white vest with gold buttons and a green crescent moon on the right side of her chest. Long, green rabbit ears sprouted from her head as she landed in a t-shaped stance and opened her eyes to reveal that they had become bright green, the pupils animalistic in shape.

She used her right hand's index finger draw a counter-clockwise circle in front of her from a low point with a determined glare as another green moon fills the space in between the drawing. **"Reflecting brightly the potential of the future, Cure Jade!"**

Jade stopped herself after what had just occurred, overall confused as she petted her ears lightly. _I'd love to say that this can't be real, but it is..._

"Whoa...! That's awesome!" Jasmine shouted, far more excited about this than the actual heroine. "Now you can really help out your friend, Cure Jade!"

Jade's ears twitched which caused her to focus on the fact that the Forgotton swung at her again, jumping to dodge. She succeeded, gaining unexpected height as a green-colored sonic boom followed, causing the girls to become speechless again. Trifact had disappeared in that moment, however, impatient with his failure.

As she was floating, the magical warrior got an idea. She reoriented to launch herself effortlessly with another sonic boom radiating from her feet and landing a strong flying kick on the monster. **"Flyby Drive!"**

The monster fell from the blow which allowed Jade time to land in front of Jasmine who was holding Zephyr. "Get out of here, already!"

"You need to purify it, zeph! Summon your Dream Calibur!"

As the Forgotton got up, it revved its jet engine legs as it blasted toward the girls but Jade kicked it out of harm's way, launching it into the building. She was briefly concerned while she rested her left hand on her hip, only to notice the baton there and pulled it out with her right hand.

She turned it toward her left hand as it flowed instinctively to touch the baton past her other hand as green energy shimmered from her fingertips and changed the baton into a long, thin silver blade with a swept green crescent moon-themed handguard.

 **"Dream Calibur Rapier!"** She yelled as she turned her wrist to point it at the Forgotton. She tapped at the handguard and charged it with energy, readying herself with a few deep breaths.

 **"Pretty Cure Moonlit Snare!"** Cure Jade thrust her weapon forward and launched a full moon-shaped gravity trap onto the Forgotton, forcing it into place while she soon boosted herself with a gravity surge to stab into the monster, filling it with green light.

The monster faded away as Amy's shining gem reappeared from its body and the hourglass shattered, with the jewel floating back to the girl and sinking into her chest. The damage to the surrounding area was fixed afterwards as if the fight never happened.

Without a second thought, Jade ran to her friend's side as she began to regain consciousness to embrace her, tearing up slightly. The two spectators on the other hand were not too eager about her potential reaction, as they tried to stop the panicking heroine by attempting to grab her, but were too slow.

"You're safe...! I was so worried!" Jade practically was overcome with tears although Amy didn't exactly understand what was going on. The fighter pulled away from the hug to reveal herself, confused as well as she carefully sat the girl back into her wheelchair.

"Skye? Is that you...? Why are you more...colorful than usual?" Amy asked in confusion while Jade calmed down, hesitantly looking away but all her friend did was smile.

"I guess that makes me the damsel in distress, huh hero?" She added with a chuckle. Jade only responded with a quiver in her lip and returned to her normal form to sit on the ground.

It didn't take long for Amy to notice Jasmine and Zephyr were there the whole time, waving slightly in their direction as the blonde laughed nervously in response.


	2. Flight of the Lightning Trigger

"My name is Zephyr, and I am a Pegasus fairy that has come from the Kingdom of Legends, zeph. However, our evil king wishes to take over your land, the Kingdom of Dreams, in order for the humans to remember and fear our power. But I don't want that, zeph! I and the Legendary Three Musketeers want both of our lands to live in peace so don't put him in the same group as us, zeph." Zephyr starts to explain as all of the girls moved toward a bench to sit down and rest at.

"Wait, Legendary Three Musketeers? Who are they?" Jasmine asked, trying to keep up. Amy waited for the answers to everything with bated breath. Skye was not amused about the entire thing as she rested her head on her hand with a frown.

"They're strong warriors, zeph!" The fairy admits, proud. "They served the kingdom well…until they were defeated by the Chimera King's servants, zeph." His voice began to quiver as tears were welling up in his eyes.

But Jasmine gave him a light squeeze and rubbed her face into his mane to try to cheer him up. "Don't worry, Zephyr! You've got Skye now, so everything'll be all right!"

"You're wrong about that, because I quit." Skye said with determination as she rises from her seat, with everyone at her with a curiously raised eyebrow and a tilt to their head.

"You can take this bracelet back and-" She then tried to pull off the Luminary Brace but for some reason, the object was locked into place on her wrist. She took a break to catch her breath but then Amy's hand inhibited her efforts.

"I don't want you to stop being what you are now, Skye. You saved me and I can never repay you for that." Amy said, trying not to show her exhaustion through her smile.

Skye's determination was immediately softened at her friend's sincerity, looking away from everyone as she sits back down. "I just wanted to be normal..." She mutters.

Jasmine also becomes disheartened, but then remembers something as she gets up to face the two of them. "Oh, that's right! My name's Jasmine Swallows and I'm a Freshman at Avalon High! It's nice to meet you two." She says, presenting her hand with a confident smirk.

"I'm Amy Menace, Freshman at Summerland Girls' Academy. And please, the pleasure is mine." Amy compliments as she returns the handshake while Jasmine was in awe.

"I thought I recognized you, but I wanted to be doubly sure. I knew Summerland had a lot of rich girls, but to meet the heiress of the Menace Corporation is so cool...!" The blonde swooned from the moment as she held her hands to her face.

Skye sighs, thinking for a moment. She then motioned her own hand. "...Skye Luce, Freshman at Summerland."

Jasmine enthusiastically responded with a firm handshake, throwing her new friend for a loop. "It's great to meet you too, Skye."

"Jasmine, do you have your phone on you? I'd like to give you my number so that in case there's an attack on your school I can help get Skye there." Amy requested as yet again Skye is caught off guard. "Were you even listening to me?!"

The blonde pulled out her phone with urgency. "Oh, that makes a lot of sense! Go ahead!"

Amy started saying the number as Jasmine typed it out into her phone. "I'll send you a text so you can get my number later tonight. Hey Skye, could I have your number too?"

"You're nice and all, Jasmine, but I never really wanted to be a hero. Personally, school's a little more important to me, okay?" Skye said, standing up and walking away from everyone. "Amy, can you get the car around? My mother must be worried sick..."

The heiress exhaled through her nose as she retrieved her phone. "Of course." _You're so stubborn sometimes..._

Jasmine shook her head, still smiling. "You're right. I got too excited about all of this and didn't think of your feelings. I'm sorry."

Zephyr floated towards Skye. "Skye, you're not alone on this mission. There are two other Pretty Cures and I can help you find them, zeph!"

"Sorry, Zephyr. But my mother wouldn't like me having a pet, much less a talking one like you." The girl said without even turning to him.

Jasmine walked up to the fairy. "You know... Dinner's already at my place. And my parents don't mind you, so what do you think?"

Zephyr's eyes sparkled with joy. "And apple pies, zeph...?"

The girl smirks playfully as she picks up her bike and offers him a seat in the basket. "I make one every week."

He sits in the basket and Jasmine bikes off right when the limo arrived in front of the academy.

* * *

"So how'd the first game of the season go, Brandy?" An older red-headed man asked when he pulled down the driver-side window of his SUV as Ashford approached and sat in the passenger seat.

"You should've seen it, dad! We won twenty five to nothing! I kept up the best defense and Yuriko was a beast with scoring." Brandy said confidently, grinning to match.

"Excellent, dear! I really wish I could've been there, but you know work..." He said with a sigh as he was driving out of the school grounds.

By this point, the Ashfords caught sight of Jasmine and Zephyr as they're riding down the street and Brandy rolls down her window as they were waiting at a stop light. "Hey Jasmine! A little late for an evening ride, isn't it?"

"Brandy...?" Jasmine was concerned, but then checks her phone, panicking. "Whoa! It is late! I guess I lost track of time during my routine!" She explains with a splash of fiction, laughing nervously. _It's more of that I can't believe I biked that far on my own than anything._

"Hey dad, if we stop at the next parking lot, can we take Jasmine to her house? I don't think it'd be a good idea for her to be by herself this late." Brandy asked while shifting glances between her classmate and the traffic light.

On the other hand, Jasmine was anxiously waiting for the crosswalk to change, Zephyr pretending to be a stuffed animal as he tries to lay motionless. "W-Well, I don't want to trouble you if it'll be a problem. I live on Chestnut Street and we're close, so-"

"Actually Jasmine, it wouldn't be. We live on Chestnut Street too." Brandy's father pipes up just as the light turns green and they begin to move. "We'll get you home quicker than your bike would!"

Sure enough, the pair waited for the rider to get in and Brandy easily lifted Jasmine's bike to fit inside of the car as she moved to sit back with her classmate while her duffle bag sat in her seat.

"I wish you would've told me we were neighbors sooner!" Brandy noted with a jolly smile. "You mind if I get your number so that we can go on jogs together?"

"That'd be awesome! I'll show you this great mountain climbing place I know in return." Jasmine says as she gets out her phone.

The two exchange numbers with each other as they laughed, anticipating the adventures to come.

"What's the story with the Pegasus here? New project?" Brandy asked, curious.

Jasmine giggled, an idea coming to mind as she started petting his mane. "I found this little guy on the ground during my bike ride. He's a fairy named Zephyr and he likes apple pie."

Said fairy tried not to show any signs of alarm but the calm pets he was receiving were slowly proving his nerves wrong.

Suddenly a blissful expression came across Brandy's face, closing her eyes. "Your apple pie sounds so good right now..."

She was interrupted when the car stopped at Jasmine's house and she was about to get out too but her stomach growled, causing her to look away in embarrassment.

Jasmine laughed, brushing it off. "It's okay; I can at least get my bike out of your car so we can all get to dinner that much sooner, eh?" She jests, carefully pulling out the machine herself.

"Thanks again for the ride, Mr. Ashford! I'll see you at school tomorrow, Brandy!" The blonde chirps gratefully, waving in a wide arc before moving her bike into her garage.

As soon as the bike is in, Zephyr floats out of the basket, now finally able to show his distress. "Are you crazy?! What if they were going to capture me after you just declared that so casually, zeph?! Do you not want to help me find the Pretty Cure or what?!"

The girl laughs again, turning on the light before closing the garage. "Don't you worry about a thing, Zephyr! I've known Brandy since middle school and she's only got her mind on three things: basketball, helping people, and most importantly, food. She didn't even care about you after I mentioned the dessert, trust me."

"...She sounds like a good friend if you treat her like that, zeph." The fairy mutters as he flies up to her room while Jasmine herself finally has dinner with her family.

After a nice meal, she changes into a baby blue nightgown, yawning loudly. She plugs her phone into her charger when it begins to beep rhythmically to demand her attention. "Huh?"

 _[Hey-o! I always like going on a morning jog so you can join me if you'd like starting tomorrow. If you wanna get some sleep instead, that's totally cool! G'Night!]_ Brandy's energy was seeping off of every letter in her first text to the artist as she lazily reread it a few times to get the gist.

 _[You know, that actually sounds like a good idea. I get up way too late anyway, so that might work out in my favor. I'll see you in the morning.]_

"We'll look for the other Pretty Cures starting tomorrow after school, all right...? Sleep on the bed if you want, but good night, Zephyr."

She snuggles up into bed and the fairy joins her at the foot of it as they drifted off into sleep.

Late into the night, the marble in the girl's jean pocket rolls out on its own and glows with a soft, gentle warmth as it floated into her loose, exposed hand.

Jasmine opened her eyes to see that she was in a white space in a light yellow dress, looking around apprehensively.

Dark clouds began obscuring the ceiling, causing the girl to shrink back in her worry. Then just as sudden as the clouds appeared, a lightning bolt strikes her. But instead of feeling that pain...

She falls out of bed, taking the blanket and Zephyr on top of it with her to the ground with a resounding thud. The marble on the other hand had been launched out the window, landing in a tree in the backyard.

"Wh-What's the big idea, zeph...?" The fairy asked as he rubbed the sleep out his eyes and tiredly looked at his supposed new owner.

Her breath was labored, her body in a cold sweat with her hand on her heart. Her hair was scattered in all sorts of ways but still unable to cover the fearful expression in her eyes, Jasmine's thoughts were racing as fast as her heartbeat.

"Jasmine...? Are you okay, zeph?" Zephyr asked as he sat in front of her, managing to catch her stare as she was calming down.

She swallowed in an attempt to clear the lump in her throat. "…It was just a nightmare, nothing to worry about."

She stands to clean up her room, trying to shake that feeling of dread still in herself. She quietly pulled back the curtain on the window to see that the sun hadn't risen that morning just yet.

A short time later she's outside in her backyard, preparing for the jog with some light stretching in an appropriate outfit and her usual braid, continuing her channeled silence.

"...Do you want to talk about your nightmare, zeph?" Zephyr asks worriedly while watching her, floating around her sight level. "Dreams are very powerful and they can tell you-"

"What can a lightning bolt killing me in a dream tell you?!" She couldn't contain herself anymore as her volume and reaction were quite loud for the muted morning. "Good for you, you learned that lightning might screw me over sometime soon! Or are you going to tell me that it's not that literal?!"

Jasmine realized what she had done and covered her mouth with one hand as Zephyr became discouraged. "I... I'm sorry, Ze-"

"Hey, what's all the yelling about?" Brandy's question echoed through the still area as she opened the gate. "Everything all right over here?"

Her curiosity was soon redirected when she had noticed the hovering fairy as she now was staring intently at him while she set her backpack and duffle bag down at the gate.

"O-Oh, good morning Brandy. Sorry you had to hear that…" Jasmine said weakly, looking away from her friend.

"So you are real then, Zephyr? That's so awesome!" The redhead shouts excitedly, swiftly directing her hand toward the Pegasus. "I'm Brandy Ashford and it's nice to formally meet you!" She introduces herself with a bright grin.

Zephyr rests his hoof in her hand with no real expression and she shakes it lightly. "It's nice to meet you too, zeph."

Just then, a series of feminine-sounding giggles rang out from the woods surrounding the backyard as Brandy ran in to try to find the source of the sound. Zephyr followed slowly, his wings almost heavy with dread from its familiarity. Jasmine grabbed her phone from her hoodie's front pocket, trying to find Amy's number in her contacts just in case they needed Skye's help.

After a good distance, the giggling stops and the girls see a woman emerge from a shadow clad in a long, white robe. Her black cat ears were poking out of a matching sorcerer's cap as she playfully waved to the girls with a toothy smirk and confidence radiating from her sky blue eyes.

"Sneak!" Zephyr yells as he catches up to see her, the girls briefly glancing at him when he announced her name but not keeping their eyes off her for too long.

"I bid you good morning, Zephyr. My, what lovely girls you've managed to befriend." Sneak begins before summoning a dark staff into her left hand. "It's too bad that they're too weak to help you."

This really set Brandy off, causing her to glare at the cat girl. "Oh yeah, and what gave you the right to say that?!" Her rage somewhat faded into disbelief when her target disappeared. She quickly felt her body freezing in place from the magician's intrusion into her shadow…and a pulling sensation in her chest from behind.

The other two could only watch in horror as the tall girl looked back to see Sneak's grin even wider than it was before and the whites in her eyes blackened to give a menacing contrast to her bright irises. "The power to take everything you hold dear into my grasp, of course, foolish human...!" She hissed, immediately pulling out her hand with a similar iridescent sphere matching Amy's in her grasp and the athlete's lifeless body crumpling to the ground.

She points her staff upward as a little shadow mouse climbs along her arm while Jasmine was still in shock but unable to force herself to recover her friend's body. When the mouse reaches the top of the staff, it pops to reveal another empty hourglass that the sorcerer floats effortlessly above it.

She tosses the objects into the air with a snide smirk. **"Become Forgotton in the sands of time!"**

Black light encompasses the area as Jasmine uses her arms in a futile attempt to shield herself from the energy of the combined items.

"Forgotton!" The demonic shout forced the remaining girl's eyes open to stare face to face with its blank gaze as she gripped her phone tightly.

This monster was different than the one that she had first seen as it was seemingly wearing a tank of water on its back with two firefighter-styled hoses attached to mounts on its wrists. The pumps on its forearms slowly loosened themselves and that was Jasmine's personal cue to run, turning and running full tilt through the forest as she was dodging the monster's water shots.

"Come on, pick up, pick up, pick up...!" She cursed at her impatience for her phone and the girl on the other line to catch up with her predicament.

As Skye was about to get in the car, green light explodes right in front of her as her Luminary Gem appears above her right hand. With no time to recover, it shines a ray of light towards something. Amy couldn't see that because her phone started ringing as she curiously raises an eyebrow.

"Jasmine...? What in the world could she be calling about this early?" Amy says as she answers it.

"It might have something to do with this..." Skye noted with a groan as she made her friend see what was happening in front of her. She attempted to snuff out the light when she clutched her hand around the Gem, narrowing her eyes at it.

 _[Brandy, I know you're in there somewhere! I_ _know_ _you can fight this!]_ Jasmine screams on the other end as Amy winces from the intensity of her voice, hearing signs of a struggle and the girl's haggard breath.

"Excuse me, David. I need to take this call...with Skye. Now." She said seriously to her driver as he nodded nervously, pulling the car's elevator down so that she could roll onto the driveway, putting it on speaker and handing it to Skye her in order to get into the large garage.

 _[Ahahaha! Look at you scurrying around like a little mouse! I_ _told_ _you that you two were useless!]_ An unknown, older woman's voice cried out in her twisted sense of joy. _[Although that brute of a girl that you called a friend is_ _certainly_ _more capable now!]_

"Jasmine! Can you hear me?! What is going on?!" Amy yells in her worry as Skye stuffed the glowing item into her backpack but the heiress caught her. "Skye, what are you doing?! We need to go over there and help!"

"No, we don't! We need to get to school or we'll be late! Zephyr said that two other Pretty Cures exist so they'll help her out!" Skye whined. _I mean, good on her for wanting to help her friend, but I can't risk myself for a stranger..._

 _[Amy, you picked up! My friend Brandy got caught and changed into a-what was it-a Forgotton! I need Skye's help to free her!]_ Jasmine was relieved that the other girl picked up and heard Skye on the other end too.

By this point, Jasmine was near her house and a good portion of the forest was leveled in the chase. She accidentally ran into the big tree in her yard, trying to catch her breath as the branches were rustled just enough for the marble to shake loose.

"Nobody is ever useless! Brandy was only defending Zephyr because it's the right thing to do!"

As the marble hits the ground, it encompasses the whole area in yellow light as a surge of power burst from it and cut off the call, baffling the two girls on the other end.

They briefly looked to each other for some sort of response.

"We... We should get going." Skye says after a bit. "I'll personally check on her after school, I promise, all right?"

Amy held her phone tensely but nodded, pocketing it as they both go to the car.

The marble had taken shape as an amber wing, floating between Jasmine's hands and her Luminary Brace appearing on her left wrist. She swiped it from the air and shouts, **"Gem of the future, guide me through a mythical transformation!"**

"The second Pretty Cure, zeph!" The Pegasus shouts excitedly while Sneak was intrigued by the whole affair.

After setting and turning her Luminary Gem into place, lightning strikes her body as she briefly remembers her dream. Instead of pain, she feels reinvigorated as her clothes were replaced with an open-back leotard with shorts and lengthens her braid to reach past her hips as it brightened to a natural, platinum blonde. With each strike of electricity, new clothes formed over her body. A skirt resembling feathers appears over her waist with a golden baton on her belt's left side, her boots that had yellow lines ending in the wedge heels, yellow armbands formed over her forearms that contrasted her Luminary Brace, and an open-backed vest with brass buttons materializes and a yellow wing shape to match her Gem over her chest. Finally, golden wings spread from her shoulder blades and she landed with her legs close together, opening her eyes to reveal that they had changed to a beautiful yet wild emerald green with slit pupils.

Jasmine spreads her arms and wings skyward as a lightning bolt strikes behind her. **"Shining brightly as a beacon of hope, Cure Garuda!"** She then looks to everyone and smiles compassionately afterwards.

Garuda admires her wings and her new uniform in awe. "Wow... So I'm a Pretty Cure too?"

"Forgotton!" The beast roars as Garuda turns her attention back to the monster, narrowly dodging a shot by taking flight.

 _Huh, this isn't as hard as I thought flying with my own wings would be..._ The Cure thinks to herself confidently, gliding to where Brandy's body was lying while easily dodging the Forgotton's attempts to knock her out of the sky.

She lands near her friend and easily lifts her up in her arms, readying herself to jump again but the Forgotton stopped shooting at her for a moment.

"I'm impressed at how quick you are to flee. If only your friend was that forward-thinking, huh...?" Sneak jeered, hoping she struck a nerve as she raises her hand to soon signal her creation.

Instead of responding, Garuda takes off and gently sets Brandy down with her back on the tree, jumping again to fly higher into the air. _If she's going to play dirty, there's nothing wrong with following her "rules"..._ She devilishly thought to herself.

She then dive-bombed to land behind Sneak, waving her arms in the air and making silly faces to taunt the Forgotton, angering it as it blasted water...at its master instead of its target since Garuda was too speedy for it to shoot, now floating above the monster at a good distance.

Sneak hissed loudly as she was soaked to the bone and sopping wet, finding her enemy in the air. "How dare you...!" She yelled as her eyes darkened, glaring at her before teleporting away.

Garuda smirks at her success and grabs her baton, pointing one end upwards as she channels yellow energy in her fingertips, transforming it into a longer, wider silver sword than Cure Jade's with the hilt having her symbol at the top on both sides.

 **"Dream Calibur Longsword!"** She yells, looking down at the Forgotton. She taps at the symbol and grabs her blade with both hands while she gathers her nerve as it is absorbed in yellow light.

 **"Pretty Cure Amber Dive!"** With that, she starts a spiraling dive-bomb, striking the Forgotton not unlike a lightning bolt and piercing it with her weapon.

Garuda lands after the monster crumbles away, the hourglass shattering while the forest was quietly restored. She cancels her transformation as she chases after the orb.

"You did it, zeph! We didn't need Skye or anything!" Zephyr cheered as Brandy regained consciousness right when Jasmine showed up.

"...Jasmine, did that cat girl do something to me?" Brandy lethargically asked as Jasmine nodded seriously. "But you saved me, right?"

The new heroine dropped her expression when she smiled softly. "You're too smart for me sometimes, Brandy. But yeah, I'm a Pretty Cure now, Cure Garuda." She joked, showing off her Luminary Brace.

"I really want to help you out, is there anything I can do?" The redhead asks as she slowly stands up and Jasmine made it easier.

"...Maybe if we could get Skye's help in finding the third girl." The artist notes, disheartened but that gets Brandy irritated.

"There's another girl and she didn't help us-help you?! What nerve!"

Jasmine's phone started to ring out from its spot on the ground as she picked it up, seeing that an unknown number texted her. She soon was panicking when the time said that school was about to start in 30 minutes.

 _[This is Skye. The call cut off, so we were worried. Sorry I couldn't make it there, we needed to get to school on time.]_ Jasmine frowned to herself as both girls went to gather their things.

 _[Like I said before, you think school is important, so don't feel too bad. But I became a Pretty Cure too when I saved my friend. We should get together sometime and talk about this.]_ She texted back, concern written all over her face. "Hey Brandy, when do you think you're free next?"

"Saturdays we don't have practice, so-Wait, are we gonna meet Skye? If that's true, I have some words for her..." The muscular girl says, cracking her knuckles.

"E-Easy now, she was trying to get to school like we've got to now…" The blonde weakly protested, texting back to Skye that Saturday would be good.

Another message comes through. "[Amy will bring the car around to your house so give her your address when you can.], she says. Well then, looks like we've got a date." Jasmine explains with a smirk.


	3. Enter Team Pretty Cure!

The girls got to the school just in time to change into their uniforms. Brandy wore athletic shorts under her skirt but still wearing her beloved red-striped white sneakers. Jasmine put on a brown leather string necklace with thin metal feathers and red, blue, and yellow beads and tucking it under her shirt, patting it softly in her pride with closed eyes as Brandy grinned. Jasmine takes her toolbox and after a sending each other off with a wave, they split up from the girls' locker room.

Ever since her growth spurt to her current height, many people had their eyes on Brandy wherever she went. Whether it was from that or now her muscle, many of the students were either confused or intimidated about what to do with her as they moved out of her way. She felt the stares toward her and waved confidently, trying to take it was grace.

Some of her fellow freshmen approached and greeted her, as she did in return with a bright smile and morning greetings.

After grabbing her books, she saw ahead in the crowd that there was a black-haired girl with a high-set ponytail who was only a head shorter than her. Her tie had silver stripes and she had a red and gold letter jacket with patches along the arms indicating victorious championships and a captain's "C" on the front right side of the jacket.

As she was talking to fellows of her year, her chocolate almond-shaped eyes glanced over and managed to catch Brandy's energetic gaze, telling her friends that they would talk later.

"'Morning, Yuriko!" Brandy greeted with a slight wave.

Yuriko approaches the redhead and smiles. "How's your morning so far, Brandy?"

"Excellent! My friend Jasmine-the one who makes all of the cool jewelry, y'know-and I were on our first jog this morning. Didn't even know we were neighbors until last night, so it was a big surprise for me!" She says with a portion of sincerity ringing false but maintaining her energy. _Can't exactly say that I was turned into a monster and she had to come rescue me with superpowers... Probably wouldn't even make sense._

"Oh, her! It's wonderful that she's so dedicated to her health too." The captain compliments, impressed and in slight awe. She then leans in close as Brandy responds by leaning down. "Say, do you think she can squeeze in some time to come in for a practice? The other girls and I would love to look into more of her work." She says, showing off a bracelet made of tied, multicolored straps of leather with some glass beads dangling from one end under her jacket.

The bell rings and the girls look up in response, breaking from their closeness.

"I'll ask her about it during study break today, promise!" Brandy mentions before scooting off to class and her captain walks off as well.

The freshman friends meet up in their second class of the day, math, and both are handed back their pop quiz from the other day. Brandy was impressed with herself while Jasmine aced the test no problems as the former was quick to ask for tips.

...In their immediate class, however, both were a complete disaster in focusing on the material. Jasmine was distracted by how everything was so beautiful in space, occasionally sketching out inspiration material instead of taking notes. Brandy on the other hand was out cold, getting comfortable in her seat.

When the dismissal bell rang, the blonde lightly shook her friend's arm to wake her as she wiped the drool from her mouth. They walked over to the library together and set their backpacks in seats next to each other.

Brandy tries to concentrate on homework with a pencil in hand and tapping at some loose leaf, her eyebrows furrowed. She then quietly groans, pushing her paper away as she leans forward to rest her head on the desk. "Jasmine... I need to talk to you~" She all but muttered into the surface, looking at her friend's direction with her exposed eye.

She meanwhile seemed to be writing notes, but not about school. She was quietly sorting through her toolbox with her eyes intent on surveying her materials. "Hold on, won't you? I want to assess what I need to buy on my next supply run."

"That reminds me, Yuriko, my team captain, was wondering if you could sit in on a practice since she and the girls want to look at your selection." The lazy one said as she turned her head to stare at her with both eyes.

Jasmine pulls out her planner, checking her schedule. "I'm free next Monday so just snag me before practice, okay?" She paused when Brandy was being unusually quiet, blinking nervously as she looked back. "Y-Yes...?"

"I want to see what you look like when you do the thing." The tall girl bluntly says, pointing at Jasmine's hidden Luminary Brace. "Since I missed it during my own change, after all."

Shifting glances around the room to hope that nobody was looking at them, she then raised an eyebrow as she tried to contain her flustered reaction. "I can't just use my powers whenever I want, Brandy! They're much too important to fool around with!" She whispered aggressively though the bright shade of red on her face lessened the impact.

She then pulled out her Astronomy book, lightly setting it on the table as she tried to regain her composure in a huff. "Besides, you can't be napping in Astronomy every day if you want to stay on the team."

Brandy pouts, quietly agreeing when she pulled out her book too and straightened out her papers to start some notes. _Man, I hate when she's right..._

* * *

School seemed to drag on before the girls' basketball teams were starting their practice drills in the gym. The sounds of the bouncing balls, shuffling feet, and energetic shouting echoed throughout the high ceiling, reflecting off the many victory banners of varying championships hung around the court and the mascot decorating the floor and walls.

Brandy was playing a practice match but instead of thinking ahead for her next move, her mind kept replaying the events of this morning. Sneak's giggling was the only sound she could hear in her ears, holding her head after a point as she tried to block out the catgirl's terrifying expression.

It prevented her from seeing the incoming ball to the face, falling down as she now held it as it throbbed in actual pain. Her fellow varsity members were panicking and Yuriko with the assistance of a few others helped her over to a bench.

"Let's go on break, everyone..." The captain said nervously as both the varsity and JV teams, who were wearing white alternate uniforms with gold and red accents instead of the usual colors, agreed and gather together to either get water or grab some snacks.

Yuriko sat next to Brandy and offers her a granola bar, to which she accepts with a small thank you. "What happened just now? You think you'll be able to make it through practice...?"

"I didn't get enough sleep before the jog, is all." Brandy said weakly, trying to keep up the charade. "Maybe that's catching up with me."

"Don't worry about practice today, go home and get some real rest, all right?" The captain offered a compassionate smile as Brandy was bewildered by the notion for some reason.

She opens the snack and takes a bite out of it, nodding afterwards. She wordlessly walked back to the locker room, trashed the wrapper, grabbed her duffle bag, put her hoodie and sweatpants on over her uniform, and she walked toward her home.

But as she passed by Jasmine's house, she got an idea as she smiled softly. She knocks on the door and her little sister answers it.

"Heya, is your big sister around?" Brandy asks with a smirk as she kneels down to her level. "I was wondering if we could hang out."

"Anita, who are you-" Jasmine asked, looking down at her sister though soon noticing her friend. "Brandy, why aren't you at practice?" She now asks, confused as she lets her in.

"I was, but I wasn't feeling too good so I was about to go home. But you don't mind if we hang out, right?" She replies weakly, scratching the back of her neck nervously while she slips off her shoes.

Anita was looking up at the redhead in awe and soon her brothers poke their heads out and have a similar reaction as they follow them into the living room.

"You're so tall...!" The youngest sibling finally blurts out with a cheery smile as they all sit around Brandy, Jasmine clearly feeling awkward but their guest smiled back.

"My name's Kris!" The older brother says energetically. "I'm Jay!" The younger brother says next with a bright grin. "And I'm Anita!" The littlest follows up as she gives Brandy a big hug.

"Can we play with her too, big sis, please?!" "We'll play cards and other things if she's sick, we promise!" The brothers almost overlapped each other but Jasmine motioned for them to calm down.

"One at a time, please, guys." She said, sternly but weak in protest.

Brandy laughed loudly. "You guys seem like a lot of fun! My name's Brandy and it's nice to meet all of you!"

She stands up slowly and picks up Anita to give her a tight hug back, soon resting her in the crook of her arms with little trouble. "And I think some playing around might help me relax! I've been so stressed from practice lately."

The youngest sibling was so happy that she was this high off her feet. "You're strong, too! Big sister can't lift me up at all...!"

Jasmine turns away, displeased about how the conversation was going on both sides as she rested her head on her fist. "If you say so, Brandy." _It has to be about this morning..._

Kris noticed her uniform and asked, "You play a sport too? I love soccer!"

Brandy sets Anita down who was slightly disappointed but then they were all excited when she proudly pointed at her chest with her thumb. "That's right! I'm on the basketball team, and we won a game last night!"

The kids were all in awe at this, their eyes widening from wonder and Mrs. Swallows came in with a tray full of drinks and set them on the coffee table. "Are you sure they're not bothering you? I know they can be a bit hyper when it comes to athletics..." She asks, somewhat dampening the mood.

The tall girl shakes her head with a chuckle, smirking again. "Nah, it's all right, Mrs. Swallows. I don't have any siblings of my own so I find it fun!"

It was then that the kids felt sad for their new friend, looking to each other briefly before Kris said, "That's okay though, Brandy! You can be our big sister!" The younger siblings agreed as their actual sister turned back to them.

"So am I not your sister, then?!" She shrieks, offended as the kids all started giggling at her expense. She storms around the house chasing after them. Brandy doubled over in her laughter while their mother rolled her eyes in the middle of preparing dinner.

Brandy managed to take a breath in as her phone started to go off, checking it with piqued interest.

 _[I'll be at an office party tonight dear, so feel free to have dinner without me. Good night and I love you!]_ Her dad seemed so cheerful from the text but the girl herself was once again distressed. She tries to hide the emotions on her face by the next lap that the siblings had taken, stopping when they saw her texting as Jasmine's brow furrowed in worry.

 _[Have a good time at the party, dad! I love you!]_ She pauses, taking in a deep breath, and hitting the send button after a moment.

"Something wrong, Brandy?" The eldest Swallows child asked as the others waited with bated breath.

The redhead starts to tie her sneakers back on. "Oh, well, my dad said that he was still at work for a party so I should get some cleaning done while he's gone for once." She says with a nervous chuckle. "It was nice meeting you all, but I've gotta get-"

"Mother, is it all right that Brandy can stay the night?" Jasmine suddenly says, surprising everyone as she approaches the kitchen. "Her father dropped me off last night after I chased Zephyr to where he was going and she actually lives up the street from us."

By that point her mother was setting food on the table. "You're always welcome to stay here, Brandy." She had a soft smile across her face. "After eating dinner, you can go grab her things with her, Jasmine."

The eldest daughter nodded but her siblings then shouted various things relating to wanting to go to Brandy's house, inviting themselves to the trip but their mother glared at them. "Enough! Wash up and get ready for dinner!"

They all groaned, getting to the kitchen sink and washing their hands. They sat at their seemingly assigned places but Anita opened up her spot next to her sister so that Brandy could sit there, smiling brightly. Brandy smiled in return and pats the girl on the head lightly.

Dinner was eaten but Brandy insists on going to her house by herself, saying that the cleaning part wasn't a lie to her embarrassment. Within half an hour (and after texting her dad where she would be), she had returned with everything that she needed including her backpack for school tomorrow.

The younger Swallows kids were sent to their room by the time the redhead came back. Zephyr escorted himself out when the girls changed into their sleeping gear. Brandy had a t-shirt and basketball-themed pajama pants while Jasmine had another nightgown on, getting a blanket of hers from the closet. She opened the door for Zephyr and turned off the light.

"I gotta say, Jasmine, your hair is really nice. Why do you braid it all the time?" Brandy whispers as she grabs one of Jasmine's pillows and calmly sets it on the ground.

"No, no, no!" Her friend sternly but gently whispers back, laying her head on the pillow as she pulls the blanket over herself. "You need proper rest from what happened today! I don't want you to skip practice again, got it? Sleep well."

Brandy shrunk back, slightly intimidated for once but agreed with a nod. "O-Okay... G'Night." She quietly says, grateful but guilty and flustered while settling into Jasmine's remaining pillow.

 _It smells so...different. But nice._ A smile came across her face as she finally closed her eyes.

The blonde also gets comfortable with Zephyr but she sat up and began to concentrate with a clenched fist. She only opened her eyes when she saw her Luminary Gem's glimmer peeking through her fingers. She released her grip slowly, turning to Zephyr with a proud smile as he smiled back. Beyond their notice, the marble inside Brandy's backpack resonated with the gem.

A noise. And a loud one, at that.

The blonde slowly opened her eyes, forcing them to focus with a few blinks as she was determined to find the source of it.

It didn't take long for her to find out that it was Brandy snoring as the blanket was in disarray around her, sighing. She checked her phone. It was almost time for the morning jog.

She snickered, getting an idea. She then threw her pillow right at Brandy's face.

The noise finally stops with a few sputtered snorts as the redhead sits up with her untamed hair, blankly staring at her "attacker".

"C'mon, little sis, let's get going." Jasmine said playfully, trying to keep her cool while brushing her hair.

That certainly woke up Brandy as her cheeks were warming up. _L-Little...sis?_

* * *

Saturday arrives faster than the girls anticipated as the Menace limo arrives in front of Jasmine's house. Brandy was in shock as the window rolls down to show Amy's smiling face.

"Good morning, Jasmine. This must be Brandy then, yes?" The auburn-haired girl asked as the target of her curiosity managed a nod.

"You didn't tell me that we'd be meeting with Amy Menace of all people!" Brandy yells out, turning to Jasmine who wished that she could cover her ears as she winced but Zephyr was occupying her hands as he covered his ears with his hooves.

"Come inside, we'll go to the mansion so that we can discuss what's happening."

Jasmine gets into the limo easily but Brandy has some difficulty, trying to squeeze in and muttering apologies every once in a while.

Amy chuckles to try to lighten the mood. "I guess next time I should bring around a bigger limo?"

"Sorry..." Brandy muttered again with weakened spirit. The car begins to move when both are inside to their destination.

She then felt Skye's glare and turned to meet it as she frowned. "So then you're Skye. Why didn't you help Jasmine save me the other day?"

"I only became a Pretty Cure to save Amy, nothing more nothing less." The shorter girl replied bluntly, narrowing her eyes.

"You're a hero now! Don't be so selfish when there are people in danger!" Brandy warns.

Skye exhales from her nose in a huff, turning away with her arms crossed. "I need to focus on school because this scholarship is important to me!"

"I see." Brandy calmly says as Skye looks back to her in confusion. "I know it's scary, but maybe if you can help, it'll end that much sooner." She continues solemnly, looking out the window as she drops the subject.

Skye seemed like she was going to say something but the car stops suddenly as everyone jerked forward to brace for impact.

Soon there were screams throughout the area and the friends all nod to each other. Everyone but Amy runs out and David was about to ask what was going on but Amy says, "Please, don't worry. They're going to see what's happening, so we need to go somewhere safe."

David nods, still anxious as he pulls the car ahead somewhere.

The Luminary Gems activate and Jasmine is about to transform with hers between her fingers but pauses when she sees Skye hesitating, her Gem resting in her palm.

Jasmine gently folds Skye's fingers to cover her Gem with a gentle smile. "Zephyr said that you're never alone. So, are you ready?"

Skye was surprised but she nods confidently before they separate.

 **"Gem of the future, guide us through a mythical transformation!"**

 **"Shining brightly as a beacon of hope, Cure Garuda!"**

 **"Reflecting brightly the potential of the future, Cure Jade!"**

After they pose, they see that the Forgotton is stabbing through various things with a rapier while wearing armor resembling fencing gear. They charge at it with fists at the ready while Brandy is helping to evacuate people with Zephyr as he's floating nearby.

"There's too many people, zeph!" The fairy panics. "What if somebody gets hurt...?"

"Not on my watch, Zephyr!" Brandy shouts, running to people and leading them to safety.

Just then, Brandy hears the familiar sound of a camera's shutter going off, turning with a raised eyebrow to see a girl with light orange hair taking pictures of the fight. She lightly stomps toward that direction as she stops taking photos.

"Hey, don't ruin my shot!" She yelled, her blue eyes looking excitedly at Brandy through her glasses. "It's not every day that you see magical girls in real life...!"

"We have to get out of here right now, Amber!" Brandy roars. Amber is scared for a moment, but runs after a weak apology.

Jade was about to prepare for a move but Garuda was too fast to keep up with her eyes, somewhat bearing her teeth in frustration. Suddenly, she stops and turns away from the fight. "Amy!"

"Wait, where are you going?!" Garuda shouts, about to fly after her but she was almost skewered by the Forgotton. "Brandy! I have to stop the Forgotton, so see what's going on!"

"You got it, Garuda!" Brandy yells, running in that direction.

* * *

It turned out that Sneak was on top of Amy's limo, grabbing the girl by the neck with a slimy grin.

"You leave Amy alone, monster!" Jade screams as she approached. Sneak enjoyed their suffering as slowly but surely tightened her grip.

Her expression completely dropped for one of disbelief as a precisely-aimed rock knocked her hat off her head, landing haphazardly on the ground.

The catgirl slowly, angrily tilts her head to look down at the perpetrator, Brandy with another rock in her hand, her eyes shining menacingly. "That hat...is far more important to me than your life, I'll have you know."

With her other hand, she tries to snatch Amy's Luminary Gem again but a barrier prevents her, hissing in pain. "What...?!"

"Once a Luminary Gem is purified by a Pretty Cure, you can never steal it again, zeph!" Zephyr yells.

Sneak tosses Amy away but Brandy had run close enough to shield her fall with her body. Jade was in shock as they fell together but the redhead gets up and sets Amy down softly. She thanks her, the Cure sighing in relief.

"I guess we need to be more careful, but Trifact is not exactly the most generous when-" Sneak was grumbling to herself as she glared at her hand's pain.

 **"Flyby Knuckle!"** Jade shouts as she rocketed toward her with her fist forward while at the same time, Brandy was ready to punch Sneak as well, shouting to boost her willpower.

But the catgirl deftly avoided both of them as they gasped in surprise. Brandy quickly opened her left hand and braced with her right arm to catch Jade's attack, sliding back with gritted teeth from the power while Jade was in disbelief.

Sneak lands on a light post with a hand to her chin and a playful grin as she replaces her hat on her head. "You're not quite as fast as the songbird, little rabbit...!"

 _It took me_ _hours_ _to dry from that detestable bath._ Her hatred from that moment was on the backburner in her expression, trying not to show it. "I am, however, satisfied in distracting you. Farewell~"

Wiggling her fingers in a teasing sort of wave, she teleports away, leaving the girls alone.

Brandy was still clutching at her wrist as Jade landed with a concerned look in her eye. "Why did you catch that? That looks like it hurt..."

The non-magical girl leaned to the side to reveal that Amy and Zephyr were behind her. "Sometimes to be a hero, you gotta get hurt for others..." She joked with a chuckle, shaking out her wrist. "Don't worry about us, now. Go help Garuda."

The green Cure sighed. "Thanks..." She nearly mutters before jumping away with a gravity pulse to boost her.

When she was out of sight, Brandy tried to contain her scream through her teeth as she fell down at the spot she stood from the pain. "Man, she's got some incredible strength...!"

By that point, David had helped Amy to her wheelchair and the man approached, kneeling to help Brandy upright. "Thank you for protecting me, brave knight." Amy teases with a smirk.

Brandy grins brightly. "I'll save you as many times as it takes!"

* * *

Jade had arrived and Garuda had looked worse for the wear as she was exhausted. "Sorry about that. Erm, Brandy helped me rescue Amy. And I'm sorry that I couldn't help when you transformed for the first time..."

Garuda just smirked. "What's important is that you're here now, all right?"

The green Cure nodded, gaining confidence. **"Dream Calibur Rapier!"** She summons her blade and stands at the ready. "Let me take care of this one, in that case."

Her yellow comrade jumped back into a tree, safely able to catch her breath as she watched the duel between beauty and beast.

Then, the Forgotton charges at Jade with its large rapier aimed at her heart. Jade simultaneously dodges and parries the weapon away from her body, catching the monster off guard as she taps at her symbol.

 **"Pretty Cure Moonlit Snare!"** She easily captures the monster in her gravity trap, finishing it off.

The girls power down to their normal forms, breathing a sigh of relief.

"It's a good thing that you got a rapier for your weapon, huh?" Jasmine chirped excitedly.

"That training with Amy was more than worth it, in that case." Skye said, smiling somewhat. But before she got lost in her memories, she started walking. "We need to get back to them."

"Ah! Right!" The blonde says, following.

* * *

Brandy was waiting outside of the car, gripping at her elbows lightly and smirking when she had caught sight of the two. Jasmine waved happily but Skye frowned again.

"We're still going to the mansion, right?" The redhead asked casually but stopped smiling when she saw the short girl's expression, curious. "What's up?"

She then opens the door closest to her bag and pulls out a notepad and pen of all things. She scribbled something down, tore off the sheet of paper it was written on, and forces it into Brandy's right hand, putting the items away as quickly as she had taken them out.

The two were now in the car sitting across from each other as the car takes off to the Menace mansion once more. Skye had relaxed, chatting with the others and even laughing when Zephyr's hunger caught up with him today to his embarrassment.

Brandy finally opens her hand and reads the note. The side that was facing her had in neat lettering, "Don't be stupid like that next time!" and the back had Skye and Amy's numbers on it.

 _I think I'll be just fine with these guys around, Dad..._ She smirked to herself, shaking her head somewhat before she places the note in her bag.


	4. Origin of Legends

The car arrives at the Menace mansion on the northeast side of Garden Haven and it was certainly unmistakable. With the family insignia on the giant metal gates, an expansive front yard with neatly-trimmed shrubbery lining the walkway to the front steps, the beautiful fountains in the yard, and the fact that it looked like there might as well have been a second city with the other, smaller buildings to account for the cars and whatever else the newcomers could think of from their silenced awe.

The car stops in front of a rare, modest-looking building with stonework on the outside and parks in the nearby garage.

Skye went ahead of the others and as soon as Amy was settled on the ground, she begins to move forward into the building. "Please don't be modest, come in! And welcome to my personal workshop."

Jasmine held onto Zephyr as she speedily caught up with the two. Brandy had taken slow and considerate effort to get out of the car, as if the pain from earlier began to catch up with her.

David noticed this and stepped forward cautiously. "Miss, we really should get you looked at. We have a personal doctor on staff and it wouldn't do for my mistress' friend to be in any sort of pain for her sake."

Brandy focused on her breathing, trying not to hurt herself as she was looking into his brown eyes. "Yeah...that'd be nice. But I certainly wouldn't hesitate to do it again."

He smiled with a tinge of pride before getting out a foldable chair from the limo's trunk for her to sit in while he called for the doctor.

In the workshop, however, Jasmine and Zephyr were in wonder of the all of the machines in various stages of completion while Skye immediately went her own direction regardless. She had stopped at a small, metallic desk that had star charts of both hemispheres in all of the seasons, a beautiful metal spyglass leaning on its side, and an assembled, expensive-looking telescope on display.

"Did you build all of this stuff, zeph? It's incredible...!" Zephyr says as he catches his breath, but soon becomes confused. "What is all of it though, zeph?"

Jasmine stops and looks around, her worry increasing. "Wait, where's Brandy?"

"Over here!" David's voice yells.

Everyone turns to see that he is carrying several ice packs in his arms as Brandy slowly trudged along behind him, shocked from her sudden lack of energy. She herself was carrying a water bottle in her hand.

He motions her to sit on the couch in the center of the room and she does so. She takes out two painkillers from her pocket, takes them with some water, lays down, and he starts putting ice packs along her torso and left wrist carefully as she closed her eyes to relax.

"This is from earlier, isn't it?" Skye bluntly asks from her desk. "I told you that you shouldn't have been involved. This is what you get."

"Skye, don't be like that." Jasmine hissed as if she had ice on her breath, glaring enough in Skye's direction for them to lock eyes.

It certainly did the trick as it scared the brunette into silence, full of bewilderment. She tried to not openly show it, sweeping her gaze at random points of the room. _Okay... That's not what I expected from her..._

Jasmine sat on the couch next to Brandy, her expression relaxing. "So what happened?"

"I sprained my ribs when I helped Skye save Amy, my wrist too. I'll be better in a few days, the doctor said..." Brandy says dismissively though her lack of strength in her voice was not helping. "I need to be, for practice on Monday."

"Look, it's wonderful that you did that, Brandy. But what if this ruins your chances of staying on the team? That's important to you too, right?" Jasmine continued, worried.

Brandy tried as best she could to take in a deep breath. "I said that I wanted to help you guys in any way possible, and I meant it. Let me keep trying until I find the last Pretty Cure for you, okay?"

David clears his throat, trying to ease the tension in the room as they turn to him. "...If I may."

Amy motions for him to continue so he does. "My name is David Havoc and I'm Miss Amy's personal butler. I wish to help to the best of my abilities as well." He says, bowing deeply.

Jasmine gets flustered at this, waving her hands. "P-Please, Mr. David! Don't be so uptight about this!" _He's such a gentleman...!_

She places her hand on her chest and takes in a breath to collect her thoughts. "My name is Jasmine Swallows, also known as Cure Garuda, and I am a freshman at Avalon High School. And she's Brandy Ashford, also from Avalon."

Zephyr floats toward everyone and sits on Jasmine's lap. "My name is Zephyr, and I was the prince of the Kingdom of Legends, zeph."

This really gets everyone surprised as they turn to him in a flash. "What?!"

"And what do you mean by "was" anyway?" Skye asked, standing up from her seat. "You're not making much sense, here."

"I escaped from my homeworld when my father, King Stratos, was dethroned by the new Chimera King, zeph." Zephyr began to explain with a heavy heart as the events were replaying in his mind. How he and the Legendary Three Musketeers failed, and paid heavily for it.

"...So then, what happened to your father?" Jasmine asked worriedly, trying to comfort him by slowly petting his mane.

He looks up and smiles at her as she smiles back, continuing with hopeful eyes. "He's imprisoned in the castle, but I know you'll save him, zeph. Girls filled with strong feelings of justice, courage, hope, and belief in their potential can be turned into capable warriors with the help of a Musketeer when our kingdoms are in danger, zeph."

"Then that settles it. I definitely have to help you now, with two worlds at stake. But how...?" Brandy asks, discouraged.

"You can help us find Cerberus' Luminary Gem, Brandy. It was supposed to have arrived in this land on the same day I did, zeph."

Skye pulled out one of her notebooks, turning to a fresh page and writing down what Zephyr had just said quickly but cleanly. "What are Luminary Gems, anyway? And why can they be turned into Forgotton with those weird hourglasses?"

It was at this that Zephyr paused, putting a hoof to his chin intuitively. "How to explain...? Luminary Gems are the part of your soul that can dream, zeph. Without dreams, your body becomes nothing but an empty shell. The hourglasses are an ancient item called an Empty Glass that the humans made and I had only heard of them in stories, zeph. It forces any Gem that is combined with it to forget their dreams, becoming a Forgotton that is powered by their anguish."

"That reminds me, Zephyr. When that cat tried to take Amy's Gem again, you said that when a Gem was purified by a Pretty Cure, it can never be taken again..."

Jasmine smiles cheerfully. "That's awesome! So glad that we only have to save people once..." _It's hard enough that first time anyway._ Her anxious thoughts drained the energy from her smile for a brief moment.

It was then that Brandy grabbed her hand with considerable strength for her current state, causing Jasmine to relax in her surprise. "Don't be like that. You're the best when you smile, Jasmine." She grinned widely and her friend smiled once more, gripping her hand back.

"Hmph, guess this supposed new king of yours thinks it's funny to use a past invention of ours to try to take over our world now. I dare to see them try..." Skye mutters darkly, clenching her right fist with her other hand so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

However, the tension of the room was dispelled when the angered brunette's stomach and Zephyr's roared loudly together as she began to blush wildly in embarrassment, turning around in a useless attempt to conceal her flustered face.

Amy snorted a little bit as it built up into a full laughter. When she stopped, she said, "Looks like that's some votes for lunch!"

The food gets called to the workshop and was a modest yet abundant spread. Jasmine insisted that she fed Brandy but the redhead resisted quietly and sat up, eating her egg salad sandwich in a flustered huff. Amy, Skye, and Jasmine calmly share a pot of Earl Grey tea together with their donuts. Zephyr on the other hand had a whole apple pie to his delight.

Skye was looking over the notes that she had written down as she was eating. When she finished her latest donut, she wiped off her hands and then clenched her fist, staring at it with concentration. Seeing a green light radiate through her fingers, she opened her hand and could now feel the smooth surface of her Luminary Gem across her palm.

Jasmine raised an eyebrow and with a flick of her wrist while curling her fingers inward, she was able to summon her Gem with no effort whatsoever. "What are you doing?"

"If our Gems can lead us to Forgottons, they must be able to lead us to Cerberus', right?" Skye asked, quietly impressed with how instinctual Jasmine's summoning was.

The two Gems glowed brightly in unison and from beyond their sight, the marble in Brandy's backpack responded to their call.

...But as the two chosen ones didn't see any obvious signs of its location, they sighed and closed their hands to snuff out the glow, discouraged.

Brandy senses this and asks, "Say, when did you guys find your Gems anyway?"

"I arrived to this planet on Monday, zeph. Admittedly, I wasn't able to keep track of the Gems before I got hungry..." The fairy admitted bashfully.

"The first day of school? Wow, I found a strange marble then, too!" Brandy shouted before wincing in pain as the others watched in slight horror. "I didn't think to bring it cause it's in my backpack..." She added, disappointed in herself.

Jasmine opened her hand and her Gem had disappeared, placing her hand over Brandy's, a sympathetic if not worried smile on her face. "Maybe you haven't proven to Cerberus that you're ready for this power. He wouldn't lead you to him if he didn't think you were capable, right?"

"Cerberus was always considerate of others, zeph. He might think you're too reckless with your heroics, Brandy." Zephyr added as the redhead was in awe of the Musketeer.

Brandy clenched her right fist with a confident smirk. "I'll prove myself to him, mark my words!" She then carefully lied down. "And to do that, I should rest up and get ready."

Amy claps her hands lightly and gets everyone's attention. "In that case, I'd recommend staying the night! We should use this time to learn about each other if we're going to be a team, after all. Will your parents mind, Brandy?"

Jasmine's face tensed as she looked like she was about to say something but held her tongue, Skye raising an eyebrow though not questioning it.

The redhead herself on the other hand shook her head slowly. "My dad'll be fine with it, no worries."

"We'll arrange for anything that you need post-haste." Amy assured, unaware of the circumstances. She turned to David and he nodded confidently, pulling out his phone.

Jasmine approached David before he started his calls and started talking to him as Skye maintained her curious expression. "What's with her?"

Amy turns to her friend. "Is something wrong?"

Brandy sighed to herself, as if she knew where this conversation was going.

"Of course there is. Jasmine doesn't seem like the type to keep secrets but she's gotten quiet all of a sudden." Skye theorizes, scratching at her chin.

"My dad tends to work late nights so I've been staying over at her house a lot lately. She's gotten my habits down a bit so I think she's telling David that to help him prepare." Brandy says as she's a little frustrated at Skye's suspicions.

"Then what is your mother-"

"Please. Don't ask any more about it." The redhead stated with a rare blunt tone as she looked away from the two.

Amy lightly gripped at her other hand, discouraged. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings if I did..."

Brandy just sighs again as Jasmine comes back to the others, seeing the mood of the room change with a slight frown. "Are you tired? Maybe we should let you rest properly."

"Let's go back to my room in the mansion, in that case." The heiress says as she leaves the workshop with David initially behind her.

Jasmine offers her hand to Skye as she cheers up again. The brunette takes her hand and with a strong pull that she wasn't expecting, gets up and they get Brandy up again.

Thankfully for Brandy's sake they had gotten a bigger limo as she sighed in relief, sitting comfortably in the car.

* * *

The ride seemed shorter than it initially was to get to the workshop when they arrived at the mansion.

After parking in the garage, everyone took an elevator directly to the floor with Amy's room. When the door opened, some maids had placed fresh flowers in vases along the hallways and their fragrant scents wafted towards them as they relaxed.

The maids greet Amy and she thanks them for the flowers before she and David lead them toward her room.

Well, "room" is not quite the word to describe it, according to Brandy and Jasmine. The more accurate phrase to them was, two-, or maybe three-room suite as their eyes were wide with wonder from the size, much less she could have in the various dressers and multiple closets.

David grabs two bags placed on one of the dressers and gently passes one each to the girls. Skye opens one of the closets and it has a collection of green, grey, and black pieces of clothing.

"Follow me, guys." Skye simply says after grabbing some clothes and walks off with the other two confusedly following.

Brandy was given a full set of red basketball-themed pajamas, Jasmine an elegant light yellow nightgown, and Skye had picked a blue set of white star-patterned pajamas. The redhead and blonde admire their new clothes happily, looking at themselves and each other from different angles as Skye sat down with a seemingly bored stare at their antics.

"Consider this a late birthday present, Brandy, Jasmine." Amy jests with a wide smile. "Go on now Brandy, get some rest."

With a small nod, Brandy jumps into the large bed and immediately falls asleep in its feather softness and light grey fleece sheets, snoring lightly. Jasmine set down Zephyr at the foot of the bed as he was beginning to nod off from being so full.

She briefly grimaced in worry. "Sorry about that, she tends to snore loudly..."

Skye raises an eyebrow. "Why are you apologizing? It's not like you're her sister or anything."

The blonde sighed wistfully, smiling afterwards. "Personally, I feel that we're already close despite only really knowing each other for a week." She then places her hand lightly on her heart. "And I can only hope that she feels the same way."

The brunette looks away, feeling awkward. "I guess I don't really get it since I don't have any siblings..."

Jasmine then brings her in close for a hug, causing Skye's face to turn a lovely shade of pink. "Then I'll be your sister, Skye."

Amy giggled at her friend's reaction as the somewhat unwilling participant then gathered the courage to place her arms around Jasmine's body too.


	5. Rise Up, Hero of the Ashen Blade!

Late in the night, Brandy seems to be in unease from more than just the pain in her chest. In her dream, she opens her eyes to see a white room and was wearing a long, flowing red dress.

The room is quickly consumed in flames as the girl steps back in her apprehension, attempting to analyze her surroundings with care.

A scream behind her manages to break through Brandy's concentration but as she turns to find out who it was, she wakes up.

As the cloud of sleep dispels from her mind, she turns her head and sees that Skye is on her right side while focusing her vision. She then tries to sit up but she winces in pain, trying to contain her grunt between her teeth. Opening her eyes as she recovered, she was startled to see that Jasmine was clinging onto her left arm with a sleepy smile.

With a gentle but firm push and a light shade of pink taking over her face, she lowers the sleeping blonde's grip onto her forearm. Then she was massaging her eyes, trying to piece together her dream.

"Can't sleep...?" A grumbled whisper asked, causing Brandy to lower her hand just enough to see that it was a tired Skye who yawned quietly.

By this point, the usually put-together brunette had her hair loose from her usual hairstyle and a few hairs were sticking out in uncontrollable directions, her angled eyes having less of her usual spirit.

Brandy was now holding back a snicker. _She looks so silly...!_

"Sorry for waking you." The redhead replied behind her hand after she relaxed. _It's kinda cute, actually._ She thought as the color in her face returned.

Skye shook her head with a look of guilt. "I wanted to apologize about earlier with your parents. I didn't mean to be so, well, invasive."

Brandy lowered her hand to show her grin, regaining her confidence. "I accept your apology, Skye. You were just being curious and that's what I like about you already. Maybe if you're so smart, you should help me and Jasmine with our homework!" She jokes with quiet energy.

The brunette widened her eyes from surprise, lying down and turning her head toward her friend with a small smile. "I'm able to help you two on the weekends, so don't be afraid to ask."

When Brandy saw that Skye went back to sleep, she rested her cheek on her knuckles as she began to think back on what everyone said. _I guess I haven't been very considerate of_ _myself_ _lately... As much as Skye didn't mean to be so blunt about it, she was right: I shouldn't've been there. I have to stop looking for danger and trust that my friends can take care of it._

With that, she quietly lies back down and gets some rest.

Not even a few hours later, everyone is awake and ready for the morning jog in the park today.

...Except for Skye who yawned obnoxiously loud after being booted out of bed, rubbing at her eyes tiredly.

Jasmine patted Skye softly on the back with a comforting smile. "This is good for you, Skye, trust us! Let's see how fast we can do a lap!" She said with energy as she sped ahead of everyone, with Skye groaning for a reply before trying to catch up to her.

Amy and Brandy walked along the trail with Zephyr resting like a stuffed animal on the auburn-haired girl's lap.

Amy laughed at the other girls' energy before turning to her partner. "So what's your position on that team you mentioned yesterday, Brandy?"

"Oh, I'm the Center of our varsity basketball team. We're already good into the first week of school!" Brandy said cheerfully, looking down at Amy with curiosity. "What about you guys, are you on any teams?"

"Summerland doesn't have any sports teams, but Skye has private fencing lessons that I help her with." Amy explained but soon she smiled sadly as she stopped. "It was fun when we were able to duel each other...before the accident, anyway."

Brandy turned toward her while still in awe before she kneeled down to softly hold Amy's hand, surprising her as she looked to it before looking into Brandy's green eyes. "You're still having fun helping out Skye, right? So don't worry about it."

Stunned from her confusion over her response, she soon grips Brandy's hand tightly back as the redhead grins. "You're right. I don't have time to worry about the past. Thank you."

Skye's exhausted panting interrupted the moment as she doubles over but Jasmine was now jogging in place as they finished their lap and she grinned happily. "I'm ready for another lap if you are, Skye!"

"Y..." The brunette tried to take in a deep breath but it turned into smaller ones from her fatigue. "You're too fast...!"

David approaches the girls with an open duffle bag full of snacks and drinks for them all. "Good job, everyone!"

They all sit together at a bench and Brandy lightly grabs at Skye's shoulder and brings her in close for a hug with that arm, grinning in an attempt to ignore the pain in her chest. For Skye meanwhile, judging by the heat already on her cheeks, it would be hard to tell if she was blushing more from being flustered by the sudden closeness.

"If you get tired from that, we should strengthen your endurance and do this more often! Me and Jasmine do this every morning, and I think you'd benefit from it too!" Brandy cheers and the blonde leans in to provide a supportive, chipper nod.

"I... I'm already not a morning person, so I don't see how you guys can do that before school! It's ridiculous for me to try when I live an hour away from the academy..." Skye complains with heavy breath, narrowing her eyes while looking at the ground to avoid both of their stares.

As the color drains from her face, she doesn't even try to get out of Brandy's grip. _I can't handle all of this energy._

Brandy chuckles as Skye's attention snaps back to her. "Those're some fair points to bring up." She then begins to hum and think with great concentration, closing her eyes and rubbing at her chin. "But I'd still like to help you where I can..."

"Enough is enough!" It was at that idea that Skye forced her way out of the hug, standing in front of Brandy and pointing at her with an even sharper glare than the redhead thought was possible, her confidence faltering for a moment. "With those injuries, you should focus on yourself for once, Brandy. You can help me later, okay?"

Amy, Zephyr, and David covered their ears from the sudden volume from Skye as Jasmine had a hand over her mouth, eyes wide in anxiety.

However instead of being angry, Brandy just smiles softly at Skye which immediately lessens the tension of the area. "I'm so glad that you're just as concerned for me as I am for you. It really means a lot to me, so thanks."

With her anger quickly deflated, Skye sat back down next to Brandy, pulled out a sports drink from the bag, and opened it to take a sip from it. "Of course I'd be worried about my friend, you big lug..." She all but muttered.

Brandy grins again as she chuckles through her teeth, Jasmine sighed heavily in relief with her hand to her chest as Zephyr flies into her arms, comforting her with a hug while Amy and David smiled.

When they've rested enough and David went back to wait in the limo, Jasmine was still eager to keep going but this time Zephyr joined her as he was still in her arms and the others decided to take it slow and walked and chatted through their laps.

* * *

After school at Avalon High the next day, a crowd had gathered in the cafeteria around a display board absolutely decorated in tons of pictures of Cure Garuda and Cure Jade (and Brandy) saving the day from the fencing Forgotton on Saturday.

"Look! While there may be monsters attacking us, there are heroes there to save us! Magical girls who are strong, capable, and beautiful!" Amber shouted at the top of her lungs with wide-eyed enthusiasm.

Brandy was passing by the open doors with her hand in her pocket tightly around Cerberus' Luminary Gem. _Don't worry, I'm not gonna let you or anybody else down again._

She comes back to reality when she hears Amber's voice and easily sees her over the crowd. She approaches and even sees that Jasmine is really close to the board, gripping her shaking hands so tightly that her knuckles were turning white from her anxiety as she bit her lip. She seemed to be leaning on a column as her knees were weak and shaking.

The crowd eventually allows Brandy to get close enough to her friend as she lightly taps her on the shoulder, causing the blonde to jump with a quiet, panicked squeak.

Brandy smirks and snickers nervously at her reaction. "What's going on?"

"A-Amber's talking, about-well, you know..." Jasmine could barely form her words through her nerves. "We...we should stop her, sh-shouldn't we?"

"Brandy! She helped me that day with the magical girls!" Amber shouts, waving in a wide arc and the crowd turned to them with a general feeling of confusion and concern.

The redhead waves back with a grin and a wink but Jasmine's heart all but stops, her head beginning to spin from the attention as she clutched at her chest, trying to stabilize herself. Brandy pats her shoulder again with worry before approaching the board.

"I couldn't thank you for helping the other day, so thanks! Do you know who those girls are?!" The fangirl asks with stars in her eyes, clenching her fists excitedly close to her chest.

Brandy looks to the board briefly with some thought before she turns toward the crowd and points dramatically at one of the pictures of Cure Garuda. They quieted down in anticipation and Jasmine had managed to calm down in turn, trying to clear the lump in her breathless throat.

"Last week, I was turned into one of those monsters called a Forgotton, but the one with the wings there? Her name is Cure Garuda and she saved me! She flew off before I could thank her, but I just had to know more about her. Then on Saturday, I found her and her partner, Cure Jade, there fighting that other monster. After I helped you out Amber, they finished it off and I managed to catch them before they left the scene." She said, pointing to a picture of Jade's when mentioning her.

She then brings her legs together and raises her arms slowly into the air, to not give away signs of her own distress to the crowd as Jasmine's eyes began to sparkle with the same curiosity as Amber's. "They said that they were warriors from another realm who came to stop the bad guys from turning humans into Forgottons and taking over the world. They introduced themselves as the Pretty Cure, brave warriors with powers of mythical proportions!" She declared to the sky before smiling compassionately right at Jasmine, completing her mimicry of her friend's pose as a supposed "mysterious warrior from another realm".

The blonde herself tried not to cry, finally relaxed as she rubbed at her sniffling nose. _She really does take everyone_ _but_ _herself into consideration... Even if it's not that far from the truth, to lie like that in front of so many people for our sake. She's so brave._

The crowd exploded with energy in their applause after she finished her story as Amber all but tackle-hugged her from her excitement. The redhead tried to hide her pained grimace as Jasmine begins approaching the board slowly to not get attention cast back to her again suddenly.

Brandy patted Amber's shoulder stiffly a few times to try to get her to let go of her torso, trying not to flinch. "S...Sorry about yelling at you when I was rescuing you." She muttered as she was attempting to keep her cool.

"I guess I was being reckless then, so you're fine..." Amber whispered back bashfully. "Even though I didn't see who they really were, I know that magical girls have to keep their real names a secret so you can trust me." She says with confidence in her eyes as she lets go.

"Everyone! I want to help the Pretty Cures even more by starting a fan club! And Amber, I want you to be its VP." Brandy declared with her determination reinforced as everyone gasps in awe.

"When I start it up, I want all of you guys to come to Amber or me with any rumors of monster attacks or suspicious people walking around, all right?" She continued as she was trying not to show her discontent about Sneak in her expression.

The crowd shouts varying signs of agreement. "I'll get a Scrapbook group started and everyone can join that and link whatever pics they have of the girls!" Amber follows up.

Brandy looks at her phone for the time and snickers happily as Jasmine makes it to the front next to her. "You're better at that stuff than me, so I'll leave ya to it. I gotta get to practice anyway."

When they get to the gym, they sit on the bleachers immediately and Yuriko approaches them with a confused look. "Hey, why aren't you getting changed?"

The redhead scratches at her head nervously. "...Actually, Yuriko, I sprained my ribs and my left wrist on Saturday. But I'd still like to at least watch you guys so that I'm caught up, if I could."

The captain gasps in surprise. "What happened?!"

Jasmine waves somewhat to get her attention, blushing in embarrassment. "It was my fault, actually. I made my little sister a new plushie and she brought it with us while we were shopping. Some bullies threw him up in a tree, and Brandy saw us, helping me reach for it. But then I fell on her trying to get down..." _I can't believe I panicked that easily._ _ **I**_ _should've said something, not Brandy._

Brandy also blushes in embarrassment. "Sorry, Yuriko..." _That's a good lie, actually. Didn't expect that from her._

Yuriko chuckles as the younger girls relax. "Just sit back today in that case, "hero"." She jests as she starts practice after she catches everyone's attention with a clap of her hands.

* * *

An hour and a half into practice, the captain calls for a break and many of the girls start surrounding the would-be heroines. Jasmine tries to keep her cool by sorting and talking about her jewelry which all involve feathers, glass beads, metal, and leather in some way and handing them to her customers as well as writing down custom orders.

"That bracelet looks really pretty, Jasmine! Do you have any more of those?" One girl asked as she pointed to her Luminary Brace excitedly.

Jasmine sighs wistfully as she places her hand over her wrist. "Sorry, but this one's special. There will only be three of its kind, one for myself and my best friends."

She then looks to Brandy. "Brandy, yours is almost done and I'll give it to you soon." She adds with a smirk and a wink.

"Thanks!" The redhead says with a bright grin.

"I see... Sorry about asking, then." The basketball player says, disappointed but understanding.

"My, what a wonderful collection of trinkets you have there!" A male voice sarcastically declared.

Everyone turned to see who said that and it turned out to be Trifact's blue mask. The other girls of the basketball teams ran away screaming except for Yuriko who was frozen in place from fear.

"What are you doing here?!" Jasmine yells as Brandy now looks to her with her confusion remaining.

"He's one of the bad guys?" She asks but soon tries to look for an opportunity to run as her eyes flitted in multiple directions.

" ** _I_** am one of the Chimera King's loyal servants! My name is Trifact, and I would say it's a pleasure to meet you ladies but it's quite the contrary." He says, bowing obnoxiously while holding his cape close to himself.

Jasmine soon turns her attention to her toolbox, putting everything away quickly before shoving it under the bleachers. She then stands up and sees that in that short time, Trifact had already noticed Yuriko, gasping with a hand to her mouth.

"There'll be no-one to save you this time, girls!" Trifact says, lunging toward the captain.

Just before he managed to reach her, Brandy ran in front of her friend regardless of herself and as Trifact now grabs for her chest, another barrier blocks his advance.

"What?! Why can't I take your Luminary Gem?! Did Sneak go behind my back without telling our king…?" He debated out loud as Brandy flinched, grunting loudly in pain as she fell to one knee and clutched at her chest. Yuriko fell down as her knees were weak as well, her hands to her face as she was trying not to cry out for her friend.

Jasmine points at Trifact with a determined glare. "You think that you can scare us with your empty threats?!"

Trifact laughed loudly at this notion. "I can ask the same of you!"

The blonde growls under her breath briefly and began to twirl her fingers but before she knew it, the suit of armor now rocketed toward her as she stopped in surprise.

She looked dumbfounded at his hand phasing through her chest though he quickly pulled it back out and grabbed an Empty Glass with his other hand, forcing her to collapse in a daze.

 **"Become Forgotton in the sands of time!"** Combining the objects forms a Forgotton with an apron smattered with various colors over its armor as it had an artist's palette with a rainbow of paint on it acting like a buckler and a paintbrush-like staff in the other hand.

The monster then dips its paintbrush into the orange paint which then glows on the end as it roars, swinging its staff to unleash fireballs that immediately start a fire in the gym. The remaining girls were shocked at its powers but Trifact crossed his arms and presumably smirking proudly if his mask could express more emotion.

 _Okay... With Jasmine out of commission, I have to get her and Yuriko out of here. Then I gotta call Skye, she'll take care of it._ Brandy was readying a plan of action in her head as she was recovering from Trifact's failed attempt to turn her with slow breaths as she slowly stands up.

She was getting in a running position but before she could sprint off, Yuriko grabs at her left wrist and forces her back, the recoil causing her to scream under her breath as she almost fell. Tears stinging her eyes, she was about to force her friend's hand off her wrist only to see her already crying.

"What's going on, Brandy?! Why didn't you get turned into a monster but Jasmine did, and why is it wrecking the gym?!" Yuriko yelled with fear enveloping her voice, as Brandy pulled her hand back from her action.

Smoke began to billow out from the flames as the girls began to cough and lowered themselves to the ground.

"Stop being so reckless for once, Brandy! We have to get out of here, now!" The captain tries to shout past her nerves. Her grip began to tighten, much to Brandy's distress as she groaned through her clenched teeth while closing her eyes, tears almost escaping.

"I...!" Brandy moves her left hand into her pocket to grab at the marble, giving it as tight of a grip before looking to Yuriko with determination and placing her other hand over her friend's. "I need to do what I can. And what I can do is get Jasmine out of here before anything worse happens to her."

Yuriko chuckled weakly, looking to her legs as she relaxed her grip on Brandy's wrist. "You're too brave for your own good sometimes. I can't even move anyway..."

Taking in a deep breath, the redhead accepted that pain as she grimaced. "This isn't just for me, Yuriko. I need to be brave so that I can protect you and all of my friends."

Just then, her left hand began to emit a bright red light as the girls shield their eyes but it unfortunately caught the Forgotton's attention as it stopped swinging its paintbrush to turn its body in order examine the light.

The upperclassman screamed as she noticed this but Brandy sees that the bloodstone floating above her hand had been changed to resemble a fireball, awestruck. The third and final Luminary Brace appeared on her wrist as she turns it to examine it.

She grabs the Gem from the air, moving a short distance ahead and to the side of her friend. "I won't disappoint you, Cerberus!"

"Another Pretty Cure?! Don't just stand there, attack her, Forgotton!" Trifact commanded as the monster started running toward her.

 **"Gem of the future, guide me through a mythical transformation!"** When she set the Gem in place, red flames surrounded her body and halted the Forgotton's advance as it was thrown back.

Her injuries were healing as the flames create a short-sleeved bodysuit and changes her hair to a fire engine red which brightens to orange in its tip resembling a flame, then her skirt resembling a burning fire appears with the Dream Calibur baton looped on a belt, the white knee-length boots materialize with red lining ending in the wedge heels, red armbands appear under the Luminary Brace, and a white vest with silver buttons and her red fireball symbol on her chest as black dog head pauldrons with red eyes form over her shoulders as she opens her eyes to reveal that they turned to a bright gold with slit pupils.

 **"Burning brightly with the power of courage, Cure Cerberus!"** She punched at her fists with a confident grin as red fire spiraled around her.

She didn't linger on her pose for too long as she immediately dashed at Trifact with her fist at the ready to punch him.

Just as swiftly, he changes to his yellow face as he barely dodges her attack but her fist connected with the wall instead, cracking a portion around the impact. He shrieks in panic before teleporting off.

Cerberus pulled back her fist slowly in awe, first looking over the damage, then her hand, and finally the rest of her body. She stroked one of her pauldrons and its fur was soft. _This is incredible...! I can't believe I finally did it. I wonder what Skye would think about this._

Yuriko screamed again which brings the Cure back to reality as she recalls her dream while turning to her. The girl had a small coughing fit from the smoke still in the room but the Forgotton began to approach her.

Cerberus reaches her hand forward as she gets an idea, glaring at the fire. "Wildfire!"

Then the flames start gathering in her direction, changing to a solid red and surrounding her in a cloak as the smoke all but disappears as well. The Forgotton looks around confusedly, almost about to dab its brush into more paint.

"Blaze Rush!" Before the monster could do anything, Cerberus tackles into it, throwing it in a random direction away from Yuriko and Jasmine. The fire dispelled just in time for the heroine to offer a hand to Yuriko with a confident smirk and the captain takes it, gently pulling her up to stand.

"Brandy, you look so different...!" She said but the fear in her eyes lessened once she recognized her friend's usual smirk, sighing in relief.

The Forgotton groans as it begins to get back on its feet and Cerberus lightly grabs at Yuriko's shoulders to stare into her eyes. "You need to get Jasmine out of here. I'll get her back to normal by fighting the monster, okay?"

Hesitant, Yuriko looks away from her friend's newly transformed golden eyes, but it was only for a brief moment as she nodded with determination before coughing again. She dashed out of Cerberus' hands and carefully slings Jasmine's arm over her shoulder and walks her out of the gym.

The Forgotton stands up just then, roaring loudly with its staff ready to strike.

Cerberus looks to her side and grabs at the baton, her fingertips on her left index and middle fingers beginning to glow and as she drew it from her belt, the curved blade of her weapon seemingly formed from the flames of her symbol adorning the top of the hilt. **"Dream Calibur Saber!"**

Admiring it for a moment, she readies herself hesitantly as she gets in a combative stance. _Never really fought, much less with a sword, before..._

The Forgotton took this as a chance to dab its paintbrush into some green paint and create a slime ball to launch at Cerberus but she shields herself with her sword, slicing the slime in half. It didn't stop there as it launched more but she rolled and jumped to dodge each time.

Cerberus looks around and sees that the slime is on the floor, briefly disgusted by it. The Forgotton was laughing at her expense, ready to change its paint. _Guess it's as tricky as Jasmine, too. It's not giving me a chance to get close again._

She gets an idea, grinning confidently. She then taps at her symbol as red flames are charged into the blade. **"Pretty Cure Hellfire Slash!"**

She slashed the air and the flames turned into a wave of red energy. The Forgotton quickly scrambles to get some blue paint onto its brush, splashing it onto the ground to summon a wall of water as some sort of shield.

Unfortunately, the flames were too intense for the water as it quickly turned it to steam and slashed the monster in half, easily breaking the Empty Glass as Jasmine's Luminary Gem was freed.

By this point, the other girls were outside the gym with the basketball teams and whoever else was still in the school at the time. Yuriko managed to catch the mysterious orb of light floating towards the unconscious blonde as it entered her chest.

She was waking up just as Brandy was running outside to check on the two of them as the gym was returning to its normal state. "Jasmine, Yuriko!" She shouts loudly in relief, bringing them together for a tight hug.

Jasmine groans from the sudden hug, trying to focus her vision. "How did the Forgotton get defeated...?"

"Brandy did it, Jasmine. And I know about what your supposed friendship bracelets really are." Yuriko whispers in her ear as the blonde looks to her in confusion.

Jasmine sighs with a soft smile. "Welcome to Team Pretty Cure then, Miss Yuriko."


	6. All in a Knight's Work

Two weeks passed and a routine was starting to form: Sneak or Trifact would show up, they would summon a Forgotton as the girls used their Luminary Gems to find them, and they would defeat the monster easily.

Of course, Sneak and Trifact weren't pleased at this, but they still persisted.

"One of these days, you ladies will fail!" Trifact shouted as always before teleporting away.

However, the heroines were clearly showing signs of exhaustion at this point as their sole audience member Amber was taking pictures of them. Cure Cerberus smirked weakly and flashed a peace sign at the camera for a moment. Amber started to grow concerned but before she could ask if something was wrong, they ran off once more.

At home, Amber began to compile her pictures of the girls to post on the Scrapbook group with her passion reignited.

 _[Check it out! The girls are at it again and they're so cool! My favorite is the latest one, Cure Cerberus!]_ read Amber's caption on the latest collection.

She clicked on her thread titled, "International Pretty Cures _?" [Hey out there! Are there any rumors of other Pretty Cures out there? I know there's a team in Red Hallow, the Spooky Pretty Cure, but tell me if there's anymore!]_

The replies read: _[There's legends of a duo called Spectacular Steorra here in Gorasphil, but who knows if they're active now.]_

 _[I've only heard rumors in Seinarushima. They must work at night or something!]_

 _[I'm in Shizenshima and I_ _wish_ _there were magical girls here to protect us from all the craziness that's going on in the world!]_

A new pop-up notification caught her eye and she clicked on that. It immediately lead her to a new thread called: "Team name?" _[Hey, does the Garden Haven team have a name yet? If they're gonna be on camera that much (thanks Amber!), they should have a name!]_

Amber's cheeks warmed up from the praise from that as she grinned proudly to herself. She then typed out, _[The girls should figure out a name for themselves or otherwise we'd be stealing their thunder! It wouldn't be right!]_

* * *

That same night, Skye was outside in at a large park with a heavy shoulder-slung case of some sort, a video camera with the strap around her wrist, and in a reflective neon yellow jacket while she read the messages from her phone. Brandy insisted that she should join, but she couldn't really understand why she needed to keep tabs on her...fans, she supposed

She wandered the area trying to search for a good spot to begin stargazing but ended up finding a closed café. Curious, she activated the flashlight on her phone to look at the sign. "'The Wishing Well', eh? Never heard of this place before..."

Using the light, Skye peeked into the building itself and saw paintings all over the wall, though not that much detail about them. "Since Brandy mentioned that Jasmine's Forgotton was themed around being an artist, I bet she would love this place," she commented to herself with a smirk.

Then, she noticed the time, put away her phone, and ran from the café in a rush. _The meteor shower's starting soon! Can't believe I got distracted...!_

Little did she know that as soon as she left, that a soft, white glow emanated from the back of the shop before it disappeared just as quickly.

* * *

Later in the week, Skye was dropped off at Jasmine's house. She waved the limo off before she knocked on the door, her video camera along her neck. Before the door opened, she looked at the meteor shower footage with a smile.

Soon the door opened and Jasmine smiled. "Hey Skye, welcome! Oh, I guess this is the first time you've come inside my house, now that I think about it." She paused to look around. "...Where's Amy?"

"She's at an event with her family so I had David drop me off." Skye turned off the camera and walks inside. "We've been so busy lately that I never really thought about coming over until now, but thanks," she added with a sheepish pout.

Brandy groaned loudly from her spot on the couch and Zephyr was sitting nearby. "You're telling me, Skye...! I'm so tired~ This couch is super comfy and I don't wanna leave anytime soon~"

Skye looked to her camera and remembered something. "Why don't we go out to eat? I found this café called The Wishing Well when I was going to watch the meteor shower and I've never been."

Brandy sat up and looked to Skye curiously. "Really? Why didn't you invite us to go earlier? Don't we have that Astronomy report we need to work on, Jasmine?"

"Oh yeah... That's a good point." The blonde said and chuckled nervously as she tapped at her cheek.

"A report on space?!" Skye's eyes sparkled with energy. As if she was invested in their discussion now. It caught them off guard. She clenched her fists tightly. "I'd love to help you two on that! And I'm free right now!"

Jasmine laughed awkwardly as she slipped on her black ballet flats. "Well~ I mean... It's not a problem, per se. It's due next week and we need to write about something relating to space..." _I almost forgot about that desk with all of that astronomy gear she has in Amy's workshop._

Brandy realized something as she stands up and walks toward her friends. "Sure! Let's go! I've heard some strange rumors goin' around the place anyway, like weird lights. Or ghosts!"

The blonde squeaked in surprise and flinched as she looked to Brandy. "Gh...Ghosts...?"

Skye chuckled in amusement. "You have the ability to fly incredibly fast and you're afraid of ghosts?"

"All the speed in the world can't save you from something that never gets tired, Skye~" Jasmine groaned.

* * *

The walk didn't take as long as they thought it would, seeing as they were complaining more about the past few weeks along the way which distracted them. "We're almost there, but my legs are sore..." Skye moaned.

Then, abruptly, she bumped into Brandy's back and rubbed at her nose's pain with a slight growl at the redhead.

Brandy turned around and offered her hand to the brunette with an amused grin. "I can carry ya on my back if you're hurtin' that much, Skye."

Skye looked away from the redhead as the blood rushed to her face and she sharply pointed at a small building. " _It's literally right there!_ "

She stomped in that direction as Jasmine scratched her head in confusion and Brandy noticed where they all were. "Hey, we're right in the middle of downtown but I've never been to this park before. It'd be an easy place to get to after school, so I'm diggin' it!" Brandy shouted cheerfully. In the sunlight, they could all get a proper view of the building: it was an older brick building with three murals on the walls other than the front which had windows all throughout and the "Wishing Well" sign with the hours.

Jasmine took in a squeal of a breath as she dashed to each mural to take a photo of them with her phone. The others followed behind her slowly. Jasmine seemed instinctively first drawn to the wall with a raging thunderstorm on it, followed by the one on the opposite side with a bright starry sky. Finally the back wall with a wheat field, but with the sunset colors of the paint, one could easily mistake it for a wildfire.

"They're all so beautiful!" Jasmine shrieked happily as Skye groaned and she covered her ears.

Brandy started to laugh at Jasmine's enthusiasm and slapped Skye's back as the smaller girl hissed from the new pain and almost fell from the impact. Zephyr had a hoof to his chin, deep in thought for some reason while he followed them.

"Let's just get inside, already..." Skye grumbled as she started to massage her temples. She walked to the door briskly.

"Jasmine! Can ya hold this for me?" Brandy asked playfully which caught the blonde's attention.

"Hold what?" she asked before Brandy firmly grasped her hand as her face brightened while she looked at their hands.

"C'mon, let's go!" Brandy shouted as she gently dragged Jasmine inside the café while the other girl was still stunned from the action.

As soon as they entered the café, they were immediately mesmerized by all of the artwork in countless styles and mediums along the walls. Each wall corresponded with the outer walls' themes: Skye was immediately drawn to the space section, while weather was on the opposite side, and the back by the bar had landscapes.

It was also quite empty when they had calmed down and realized it. Brandy and Jasmine chuckled nervously as they let go of each other's hands.

"I swear I've been here before, zeph." Zephyr said as he sat on one of the tables. The girls followed him. "Or have I...?"

"Ah, my prince. You're back." An older feminine voice called out and caused them all to jump slightly from the surprise as they turn to her.

It turned out to be a woman with her platinum blonde hair in a high ponytail tied with a white ribbon in a typical barista outfit. She looked at them with white eyes and slit pupils, reminding the girls of their own eyes when they were transformed. Then, she smiled. "Are these girls the Pretty Cure?"

"Now I remember, zeph! This is where the portal from the Kingdom of Legends is!" Zephyr shouted excitedly as he spun upward in excitement. "She's a Musketeer, zeph!"

The woman chuckled at the prince's energy before bowing to everyone with a hand close to her chest. "My name is Valkyrie, but please call me "Val." welcome to the Wishing Well."

Brandy offered her hand with a bright grin. "The name's Brandy Ashford or Cure Cerberus. It's nice to meetcha, Val!"

Jasmine swallowed her breath as she looked away to avoid the conversation. "J-Jasmine Swallows or otherwise known as Cure Garuda..." _For some reason, her eyes are really unnerving to me._

"Skye Luce, Cure Jade. Nice to meet you." _What_ _is_ _a Valkyrie, anyway?_ Skye thought to herself while she searched the internet on her phone.

Val softly placed her hand over Brandy's while she closed her eyes with a gentle smile. "The honor is mine, Brandy."

Brandy chuckled and then Val pointed to her. "Now then, you want a strawberry-kiwi smoothie." After Brandy grinned an affirmation, she pointed to Jasmine, who jumped. "You, Jasmine, want a green tea with two sugars and some honey, along with a club sandwich." Next was Skye, who raised one eyebrow. "Skye, you want a coffee with cream, and a raspberry-filled donut." Finally, she pointed at Zephyr who tilted his head in confusion. "And then for you, my prince, you'd like a glass of milk and a snickerdoodle cookie."

They all stared at her in surprise but Skye was the one who finally spoke up as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "...How do you know that?"

Val laughed delicately as she had her hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry if that seemed so invasive...! As a Valkyrie, I have the ability to read souls."

Brandy then gasped in awe. "Oh...! So that's what that rumor was talking about! A few kids at school told me an interesting rumor about how there's a "charming and mysterious" barista knows just what somebody needs out there! I guess this is the place!"

The elder woman sighed dreamily as she clasped her hands together. "Well~! I didn't know I was so appreciated!" She giggled before going behind the bar to work on the orders as she hummed a cheery tune.

Jasmine turned to Zephyr. "So, do you have any idea why you landed here of all places?"

"I used a wishing well back home, zeph. When I woke up here, I flew off after the Luminary Gems!" Zephyr said with vigor but Jasmine buried her face in her hand in frustration.

Skye then snorted. "That's too much of a coincidence, Zephyr..."

Brandy chuckled at Skye's response. "Maybe it was just fated to be, bro. Don't sweat the details too much."

After they waited a few minutes and chatted about random things, Val placed the orders down on the table. Everyone but Brandy turned to her-the girl in question was distracted as she took in a breath of excitement about her smoothie.

"Back in the Kingdom of Legends, a wishing well is a symbol of dreams. Dreams are the one thing that has the strongest pull on one's heart. It's appropriate for this place, where I support the many artists along my walls," Val explained as she motioned her hand to the art.

Brandy meanwhile carefully sipped her smoothie. "It's so good~! Thanks, Val!"

"Keep it down. I'm trying to hear Val's story," Skye complained. She took a breath of her coffee's pleasurable aroma and took in her first sip with a dreamy sigh.

Jasmine, on the other hand, quietly stirred her tea in embarrassment. "Sorry about her..."

Val chuckled as she shook her head with a smile. "Don't worry about it, Jasmine. I'd love to have more visitors if they were as energetic as you all."

"Yeah, let's just enjoy it," Brandy supported with a grin.

"This art really is beautiful. I can't believe I haven't been here before... Thanks so much for taking us here, Skye," Jasmine said with a gentle smile.

Skye smiled softly right back. "You're more than welcome."

"Yeah, thanks bud!" Brandy shouted energetically with a jolly laugh as she rustled the brunette's hair.

Skye's expression quickly soured. "Get off me!" With a nervous snicker, the redhead raised her hand and backed off while Skye was setting her hair back into place with a slight growl.

Jasmine, meanwhile, remembered something and pulled out her phone. "Oh!" She looked up the Scrapbook group's page on the team name and placed it on the table in front of everybody. "It looks like some of the fans want to know if we have a team name or not!" She put her hands on her face with a wistful sigh. "I hope we're not disappointing them! Maybe they can help me get over my stage fright~"

Brandy crossed her arms in thought and began to tap at her bicep with her right hand's fingers. "A team name..."

Skye then looked suspiciously at the other two with a raised eyebrow. "If we're a team, then we need a leader. We can't just keep randomly charging in and expect to win every time, you realize?"

As Jasmine heard what Skye said, she turned to her with curiosity and then smiled softly. "Why not Brandy? You have to admit, Skye, that she's really good at hearing both of us out."

The brunette still had disbelief written all over her face as she watched the gears turn in Brandy's head. "...Really."

Brandy chuckled and muttered something inaudible which got Jasmine curious but Skye slammed her hand on the table."

We're not a traffic light, you idiot! Try harder than that!" Skye yelled as her face turned red with flustered irritation but failed to catch the redhead's attention. She then looked to her hand and cursed under her breath as she stretched her fingers to soften the pain.

Val was enjoying the energy of the girls with closed eyes and a small smile. Eventually, she opened her eyes and looked toward the entrance with a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry to interrupt your fun, but something's telling me that we have some unwanted guests nearby."

Jasmine lightly picked up Zephyr as she and Skye stood up and looked to each other with concern.

"I think I've got it. Maybe, I dunno. What do you guys think?" Brandy muttered thoughtfully as she rose to meet the other two. She then motioned for them to lean in and huddle together.

Skye broke out of the huddle first and scoffed softly. "I shouldn't have expected anything different from you. The catchphrase is a nice bonus too, leader."

Jasmine nodded energetically. "We should get out there now and use them!" She then scrambled to pull out her wallet, set down some money for the food, and smiled at Val. "Keep the change, Miss Val!"

The barista laughs and gently motioned for them to take their exit.

The three ran out of the café and Zephyr wiggled out of Jasmine's arms to fly around. "I wish I knew how to help find them like Val can, zeph..." Just then, their Luminary Braces began to glow brightly as screams rang out and the girls ran in that direction.

As they arrived on the scene, they were surprised when the Forgotton had a camera for a torso and people were frozen in place like statues...except for Amber's unconscious body when Jasmine discovered her with a slight gasp. Zephyr began to help evacuating people and avoided the monster's gaze and attacks.

"Looks like Sneak or Trifact decided to not stick around..." Skye commented as she snapped her fingers to summon her Gem.

"C'mon, let's get goin'!" Brandy shouted as the other two nodded.

 **"Gem of the future, guide us through a mythical transformation!"**

As each girl transformed, the people that remained gathered to form a cheering crowd to support them. "Yeah, it's the Pretty Cure!" "They're so cool!" "My favorite's Garuda!" "Nah, man, Jade's where it's at!" "Cerberus is so strong!"

Garuda got increasingly more nervous from the cheers as she gripped her right wrist tightly, clenched her teeth, and folded her wings in tight to her body. "..."

Suddenly she felt her wing being gently stroked which caused her face to resemble a tomato as color quickly overtook her face. She frantically turned to her rabbit-eared friend. "W-Wh-?!"

She stopped when she saw a soft smile on Jade's face. "You said that you wanted to overcome your stage fright, right? We're here for you."

Cerberus smiled softly too. "These people want a show, so let's give 'em one."

With a confident smirk, Garuda nodded and they separated in order to do their roll call poses.

 **"Burning brightly with the power of courage, Cure Cerberus!"**

 **"Shining brightly as a beacon of hope, Cure Garuda!"**

 **"Reflecting brightly the potential of the future, Cure Jade!"**

 **"Never forgetting what's important! Mythical Pretty Cure!"**

The crowd grew even louder and they began taking pictures as Garuda's eyes sparkled with awe.

"Forgotton!" The monster roared as the crowd moved away from the heroines.

Garuda took in a deep breath to calm down. "So then leader, what's first on the list?"

"See if you can distract the Forgotton while Jade and I attack from behind!" Cerberus yelled as she took off running. Jade followed with a high jump.

"Right!" The Yellow Cure flew at random angles as the Forgotton tried to take her picture. Due to her speed, it instead froze birds or other wildlife as it missed. She gritted her teeth in irritation about this and gathers electricity in her arms. **"Static Wing!"**

The wing-shaped bursts of electricity stunned the Forgotton in place which gave Cerberus the opportunity to ignite a cloak of flames. Cerberus jumped in the air and focused the flames into her locked fists as Garuda moved away in time.

 **"Meteor Dunk!"** She shouted as she slammed into the monster's head. As she back flipped away, it began to lose its balance.

 **"Relative Constant!"** The moment Jade shouted that and thrust her palm forward, a green-colored gravity pulse shot forward under the Forgotton. It began to float a few inches off the ground as she strained for a moment, then motioned her hand to force it to fall flat on its face.

Garuda landed next to Jade, out of breath, as the Green Cure groaned and began to massage her temples.

 **"Dream Calibur Saber!"** The Forgotton managed to get up to face Cerberus again, but by then it was too late. **"Pretty Cure Hellfire Slash!"**

The crowd exploded in their excitement as Cerberus put her Saber away and laughed heartily. They began to approach the three and ask for selfies.

"C'mon, guys...! This is just what heroes do!" she yelled in the middle of the picture-taking.

Garuda's heart rate skyrocketed as she also complied with a big, nervous grin frozen on her face. Jade motioned for any that approached her to step back with a raised hand while she continued to recover from her brief headache. "Cerberus is right, everyone. Can you please let us get back to our job?"

The crowd slowly parted from them as they sighed in understanding and left. Garuda let go of the breath she was holding as she put her hand to her chest with her eyes still wide from her anxiety."

I didn't exactly get time to mention this before the fight, but your wings are really soft, Garuda." Jade said with a teasing grin. The Yellow Cure finally relaxed with a chuckle.

The three of them helped Amber sit up as her Luminary Gem floated back into her chest. She groaned quietly as she began to stir. "Wh...What?"

When she realized who was in directly in front of her, she screamed loudly in excitement. (Although Jade wasn't too happy with her for doing that as she groaned.) "Omigosh! I can't believe you're here?! Right in front of me!"

She began to frantically search her bag for her camera as she rambled about that to herself. Garuda placed a hand over Amber's which caused the girl to stop as she smiled softly. "There's no need to rush. We have plenty of time to talk this time."

"M-My name is Amber Brennan and I'm your biggest fan!"

Cerberus chuckled with a grin. "Nice to meetcha, Amber. And I think you'll love our latest surprise as our biggest fan."

They once again did their roll calls and their group pose as Amber snapped a picture for each one, unable to contain her screaming the whole time.

"Thank you so much!" she said as she held her camera tightly. "I can't wait to post these on the Scrapbook group!"

And just like that, their fan ran off into the distance, presumably home. Cerberus and Garuda laughed as they looked to each other awkwardly but Jade groaned again as she rubbed at her head.

* * *

Late in the night, Amber finished the final touches of the pictures and frantically set up a new thread on the Scrapbook group. Other than the roll calls and group pose, she also got a selfie with each of the heroes: Cerberus with her usual grin and wink, Garuda flashed a peace sign, and Jade looked playfully in her fan's direction as she leaned in.

 _[The Mythical Pretty Cure saved my life! They look so incredible, don't they?!]_

* * *

 **I'd like to give a special shout-out to Tabby of Care Package Precure (totally read that too!) for being my beta this time around! I think it's even better than it originally was!**

 **Now for the cameo credits (all of which I recommend~):  
MissMelli on FF/ missmelliflous on Tumblr and Spooky! Pretty Cure  
madbunsart on Tumblr and Spectacular Steorra Pretty Cure  
MonoTheMonochrome on FF/Tumblr and Pretty Cure Monster Mania  
and last but not least, MrAntonio on FF/ mister-antonio on Tumblr and Compass Pretty Cure**

 **Thanks for your patience and here's hoping that ep7 won't take me as long!**


End file.
